EWBURGH  SURVEY 


DEPARTM;  SURVE          D  EXHIBITS 

R'  SAGE  FOUNDATION 

128  I 


Price  15  Cents 


June,  1913 


, 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
RIVERSIDE 


'"  fi          *J*  L  /'&Lr 

THE  NEWBURGH   SURVEY 

REPORTS  OF  LIMITED  INVESTIGATIONS  OF 
SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  IN  NEWBURGH,  N.  Y. 

BY  THE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS 
RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION 

ZENAS  L.  POTTER 

Director  Field  Wor 


INVESTIGATIONS  : 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS — 

Franklin  Zeiger  and  Zenas  L.  Potter 5 

PUBLIC  HEALTH — 

Franz  Schneider,  Jr 21 

HOUSING — 

Amy  Woods 36 

DELINQUENCY — 

Zenas  L.  Potter 43 

PUBLIC  LIBRARY — 

Frederick  W.  Jenkins 55 

RECREATION — 

Zenas  L.  Potter 61 

CHARITIES — 

Margaret    F.    Byington 68 

INDUSTRIAL  CONDITIONS — 

Edward  F.  Brown  and  Zenas  L.  Potter 77 

MUNICIPAL  ADMINISTRATION — 

D.  O.  Decker 89 


N  '6 


A  Few  Salient  Facts 

Newburgh  is  fifty-seven  miles  up  the 
Site  Hudson  River  from  New  York  City. 

The  city  began  to  build  at  the  river 
front  and  advanced  up  the  abrupt  hill  by  "mass  forma- 
tion," structures  elbowing  close  to  each  other  and  land 
being  economized.  But  once  the  crest  of  the  hill  was 
reached,  building  operations  scattered  and  played  more 
freely  along  the  hill-top  and  down  the  other  side,  until 
the  city  now  covers  about  three  and  three-fifths  square 
miles. 

The  present  population  is  estimated  at 
Population  31,242.  Rates  of  increase  have  been 

moderate,  but  steady,  the  number  of 
inhabitants  growing  from  23,087,  in  1890  to  24,943  in 
1900,  and  27,806  in  1910.  Fifty  per  cent,  of  the  latter 
number  were  native  whites  of  native  parentage.  For- 
eign born  whites  represented  seventeen  per  cent.  The 
birthplaces  of  the  largest  numbers  of  the  foreign  born 
in  1910  were,  Ireland  1555;  England,  Scotland  and 
Wales,  856 ;  Italy,  675 ;  Russia  and  Finland,  524 ;  and 
Germany  512. 

The  city  was  settled  in  1708  by  a  band 
History  of  Palatines  driven  from  their  homes 

on  the  Rhine  by  religious  persecution. 
These  were  followed  about  1743  by  Scotch  English 
and  the  city  was  christened  with  the  Scotch  name — 
Newburgh.  In  colonial  times  Newburgh  was  an  im- 
portant commercial  center,  being  a  strategic  meeting 
place  for  water  and  stage  transportation.  Washington 
made  it  his  headquarters  for  a  year  and  a  half  during 
the  Revolution,  and  it  was  here  that  his  army  was 
disbanded. 

In    1909    there    were    104    industrial 
Industries    establishments  in  the  city,  employing 
4066  persons,   and  turning  out   pro- 
ducts worth  almost  $10,000,000,  half  of  which  value 
was  added  in  Newburgh.     The  present  industries  are 
greatly  diversified.     As  a  manufacturing  center  the 
city  has  the  advantage  of  good  shipping  facilities  and 
nearness  to  the  great  New  York  City  market,  and  its 
future  seems  to  lie  in  development  along  this  line. 


Foreword 

Up  the  river  which  stretches  out  into  a  broad  piazza  before  New- 
burgh,  Henry  Hudson  voyaged  in  search  of  a  northwest  passage  to 
the  Pacific ;  and,  incidentally,  standing  on  the  city's  present  site, 
remarked  it  a  "pleasant  place  to  build  a  town  on."  A  century  later, 
up  the  river  came  another  exploring  party — a  band  of  pilgrims  from 
the  Palatine  district  of  Germany — who  sought  a  place  of  religious 
freedom.  They  translated  Hudson's  suggestion  into  action  and  began 
to  "build  a  town."  Three-quarters  of  a  century  more,  and  Washington 
chose  Newburgh  as  his  Revolutionary  war  headquarters;  and  for 
many  months  the  city  was  thus  a  center  of  national  interest.  The 
war  over,  Newburgh  also  saw  Washington  disband  his  army  prepara- 
tory to  the  constructive  work  ahead  in  building  a  new  nation  and 
government.  Only  a  few  decades  more  and  Newburgh  saw  Robert 
Fulton  steaming  for  Albany  on  the  trip  that  demonstrated  the  prac- 
ticability of  steam-propelled  water  transportation. 

These  events  mark  high  places  in  the  drama  of  American  growth. 
They  show  also  the  unusual  advantages  for  first  hand  contact  with  the 
very  fore-front  of  activity  in  exploration,  invention,  religious  pioneer- 
ing and  military  achievements  which  Newburgh  has  enjoyed.  In  the 
present  decade  of  exploration  into  social  and  living  conditions,  of 
pioneering  in  a  movement  which  places  increased  emphasis  upon  the 
welfare  of  the  common  every-day  man  and  woman,  of  invention  of 
agencies  for  human  advance,  and  of  constructive  planning  for  civic 
progress — in  such  a  decade,  there  is  something  peculiarly  fitting  in 
Newburgh's  being  among  the  first  dozen  or  twenty  cities  to  be  "social 
surveyed",  and  in  its  being  one  of  a  smaller  number  to  start  the 
project  itself. 

The  last  point  deserves  repeating.  The  Newburgh  survey  was 
started  by  Newburgh  people.  Outside  co-operation  was  secured,  to  be 
sure;  but  the  call  for  it  came  from  within.  Although  a  few  were  like 
that  earlier  group  who  feared  the  steamboat  as  a  smoke-belching  engine 
of  destruction,  and  looked  askance  at  the  survey,  a  large  group  of 
representative  citizens  who  were  willing  to  face  straight  facts  for  the 
sake  of  advancing  fundamental  things  in  the  city,  backed  it  morally 
and  financially  from  the  very  start.  They  appreciated  that  Newburgh 
is  different  from  many  other  cities,  not  in  its  having  civic  shortcomings, 
but  in  being  willing  to  scrutinize  them. 

Early  in  1912,  Rev.  Alfred  J.  Wilson,  minister  of  the  First  Unitarian 
Church,  advocated  a  local  survey  in  a  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce.  A  few  months  later  the  matter  was  taken  up  by  Miss 


Amy  Woods,  Secretary  of  the  Associated  Charities,  who  requested  the 
co-operation  of  the  Department  of  Surveys  and  Exhibits,  and  among 
the  first  steps  was  a  conference  of  interested  citizens  who  organized  a 
Survey  Committee  of  Fifty.  The  executive  committee  of  this  larger 
group  of  fifty  consisted  of  Thaddeus  R.  Beal,  Judge  Peter  Cantline, 
H.  A.  Daniels,  Francis  J.  Gorman,  Miss  Alice  R.  Hitchcock,  Dr.  Frank 
A.  Jacobson,  David  W.  Jagger,  Miss  Ida  C.  Leroy,  Miss  Mary  Maloney, 
John  H.  Quinlan,  William  Vanamee,  Rev.  Alfred  J.  Wilson,  Graham 
Witschief,  and  Miss  Amy  Woods. 

At  the  request  of  the  local  committee  this  Department  assumed 
the  direction  of  the  survey,  delegating  Zenas  L.  Potter  to  have  general 
charge  on  the  field  and  Franz  Schneider,  Jr.,  sanitarian  of  the  Depart- 
ment, to  take  charge  of  the  investigation  into  health  and  sanitation. 
A  very  considerable  amount  of  valuable  co-operation  was  received 
for  which  acknowledgement  is  made,  as  follows :  Charity  Organization 
Department,  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  for  investigation  of  charities 
by  Miss  Margaret  F.  Byington;  National  and  New  York  Child  Labor 
Committees,  investigation  of  child  labor  by  Edward  F.  Brown ;  New- 
burgh  Associated  Charities,  housing  investigation  by  Miss  Amy  Woods ; 
Franklin  Zeiger,  investigation  of  schools;  Dr.  Leonard  P.  Ayres, 
assistance  in  planning  school  investigation  and  criticism  of  the  report; 
Frederick  W.  Jenkins,  investigation  of  Newburgh  Library ;  Mrs.  James 
W.  Elliott,  Rev.  Alfred  J.  Wilson,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Webb,  Miss  Edith  Rock^ 
wood,  housing  investigation;  Mrs.  E.  C.  Thompson  and  Mrs.  Alfred  J. 
Wilson,  assisting  in  preparation  of  charts;  D.  O.  Decker,  extra  work 
on  municipal  administration  report ;  John  I.  Ihlder,  criticism  and 
suggestions  on  housing  report.  In  the  preparation  of  the  exhibit 
showing  the  gist  of  the  survey  (selections  from  which  are  reproduced 
in  the  reports  which  follow)  Mr.  Potter  had  the  co-operation  of  E.  G. 
Routzahn  and  Miss  Mary  B.  Swain  of  the  Department  of  Surveys 
and  Exhibits.  This  volunteer  assistance  enabled  the  survey  to  be 
carried  much  farther  than  would  otherwise  have  been  possible  on  the 
funds  available. 

The  purpose  of  this  survey  was  and  is  constructive.  It  was  not 
aimed  to  humiliate  the  city  but  to  improve  it.  The  project  was  under- 
taken in  order  to  learn  significant  facts  of  living  conditions  in  the 
community,  to  make  recommendations  where  corrective  action  is 
needed,  and  to  acquaint  the  general  citizenship  with  both  facts  and 
needs.  The  facts  and  recommendations  based  on  them  make  up  the 
reports  which  follow.  Follow-up  action  is  now  clearly  a  matter  of  local 
not  outside  responsibility. 

SHELBY  M.  HARRISON,  Director. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS. 


Newburgh  Public  Schools 

FRANKLIN  ZEIGER  AND  ZENAS  L.  POTTER. 

Interest  in  school  matters  has  recently  run  commendably 
high  in  Newburgh.  Consequently,  though  the  Newburgh 
Survey  was  limited  in  the  amount  of  time  and  money  devoted 
to  it,  special  attention  was  given  to  a  study  of  the  public 
schools. 

SCHOOL  CREDITS. 

Among  the  things  found  worthy  of  special  commendation 
are: 

I.  A  School   Board  which  has  given,   free  of  charge, 
much  time  and  thought  to  school  matters. 

II.  An   unusually  fine   school  building — the   Broadway 
School. 

III.  Well  kept  buildings,  showing  efficient  janitor  ser- 
vice. 

IV.  But  little  class  overcrowding  save  in  the  Academy. 

V.  A  well  equipped  manual  training  school. 

VI.  The  promise  of  installation  of  courses  in  domestic 
science. 

VII.  A  teaching  force  apparently  devoted  to  its  work. 

VIII.  Good  co-operation  with  parochial  schools  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  compulsory  education  law. 

SCHOOL  NEEDS. 

Along  with  these  favorable  conditions  are  points  on 
which  we  believe  there  is  opportunity  for  improvement;  and 
because  it  is  more  important  in  its  possible  result,  we  dwell 
mainly  on  them  in  this  report.  There  are  opportunities  for: 

I.  Improvement  of  the  physical  provisions  for  children 
in  the  way  of  lighting,  air  space,  ventilation,  cloak  rooms, 
toilet  facilities  and  fire  protection  in  old  buildings. 


II.  Placing  the  detailed  work  of  school  administration 
more  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  superintendent. 

III.  More    frequent    and    adequate    advising    with    the 
teachers   regarding  text   books,   changes   in   the   curriculum, 
daily  and  term  programs,  etc.,  and  at  the  same  time,  more 
thorough  oversight  of  their  work. 

IV.  Increasing   teachers'   salaries,   and   adopting  better 
methods  for  their  selection  and  promotion,  and  for  studying 
and  improving  their  efficiency. 

V.  Making  continuous  studies  of  school  efficiency  for  the 
purpose  of  locating  and  correcting  weaknesses  in  the  system. 

VI.  Making  special  provision  for  mentally  and  physic- 
ally abnormal  children. 

VII.  Establishing   evening   schools    for   foreigners   and 
others  who  need  special  opportunities. 

VIII.  Greater   provision    for   the   physical   training   of 
children. 

IX.  Opening  school  buildings  out  of  school  hours  for 
wider  civic  and  social  uses. 

BASIC  FACTS. 

Before  going  into  these  subjects  in  detail,  it  may  be  said, 
by  way  of  parenthesis,  that  Newburgh  has  six  grammar 
schools,  a  manual  training  school,  and  the  Academy,  the  latter 
being  the  high  school.  The  schools  are  under  the  manage- 
ment of  a  board  of  nine  elected  at  large.  Several  of  the 
present  members  have  served  for  many  years.  Except  for 
the  fact  that  the  amount  receivable  from  taxation  is  limited 
by  the  allowance  of  the  general  city  budget,  the  schools  are 
independent  of  other  branches  of  the  city  government.  Under 
the  city  charter  a  one  per  cent,  levy  on  the  total  city  assess- 
ment is  guaranteed  for  school  purposes.  A  larger  amount  may 
be  levied. 

The  total  public  school  receipts  for  the  school  year  ending 
July,  1911,  that  being  the  last  period  for  which  comparative 
statistics  are  available,  were  $143,969.97,  of  which  $110,815.00 
came  through  taxation,  $13,845.52  through  State  aid,  the 
balance  from  non-resident  tuition  and  other  sources,  $16,066.90 


being  a  balance  from  the  previous  year.  Of  these  receipts 
$4,921.21  were  for  the  public  library  which  is  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  School  Board. 

The  school  expenditures  for  the  same  year  were: 
Teachers'  salaries,  $78,362.78;  school  libraries,  $261.70; 
schoolhouses,  sites,  repairs  and  furniture,  $16,790.92;  free 
textbooks,  $3,536.55;  other  expenses,  $27,282.40;  leaving  a 
balance  on  hand  of  $17,735.62. 


IS  NEWBURGH5ATISFIED  WITH  THIS 
SMALL  SCHOOL  EXPENDITURE? 

SCHOOL  COST  PER  PUPIL 

New  forhcllc  ^  61.7* 
Mt.Vcruon  BHHHH^HBBHBn^^^^^HBl^M  *5*.  8  7 
Auburn  ••••••••••••••^ 

Niafeafalls  ••^•^••^•••^• 


Kingston    •••••^•••^•H^HBBHl  >39.85 
BHHIBHBBmm^BHHB  .»36.  18 


damestown  ••••••^•••••••i  *  35.4  I 

Newbmgh  •^••BBBKBH^HB  *34.S9 
>aterbwn  ••••••BBB^HHHH  »30.  22, 

(?ities,25000  to  35,000  People 
(figures  based  on  average  daily  attendance) 


There  were,  in  1912,  5,917  children  between  five  and 
eighteen  years  of  age  in  the  city,  of  whom  4,289  were  in  the 
public  schools,  703  in  private  schools,  and  925  not  in  school 
at  all.  Public  school  enrollment  increases  have  been  very 
gradual  making  the  building  problem  much  less  difficult  than 
in  many  cities.  All  school  buildings,  except  the  Broadway 
School,  are  comparatively  old. 

One  hundred  nine  regular  teachers — ninety-four  in  gram- 
mar schools,  fifteen  in  the  Academy — seven  special  teachers, 
two  supervisors,  three  substitutes,  seven  principals,  and  one 
vice-principal  were  .employed  in  Newburgh  public  schools  in 


1912.  Regular  teachers  receive  from  $450  to  $650  a  year  in 
grammar  schools  and  from  $800  to  $1,200  in  the  Academy. 
Salaries  are  regulated  according  to  time  of  service  and  grade 
taught.  Five  grammar  school  principals  who  are  men  receive 
$1,400  per  year  each,  one  woman  receives  $1,000.  The 
Academy  principal  gets  $2,000  per  year,  the  vice  principal 
$1,400.  The  salary  of  the  superintendent  of  schools,  who  is 
also  clerk  of  the  Board,  is  $2,200  per  year. 

The  school  term  in  1912  included  189  days,  exclusive  of 
legal  holidays. 

With  this  general  view  of  Newburgh's  public  schools  we 
may  take  up  the  opportunities  for  improvement,  as  already 
enumerated. 

PHYSICAL  NEEDS. 

There  is  need,  in  the  first  place,  for  improving  the  physical 
provisions  for  children  in  older  school  buildings.  This  is 
revealed  when  they  are  tested  by  the  standards  for  lighting, 
cubic  air  space,  toilets,  fire  protection,  etc.,  which  the  State 
Education  Department  lays  down  in  the  construction  of  all  new 
buildings.  These  are  not,  of  course,  required  in  old  buildings, 
but  they  furnish  an  authoritative  basis  for  judging  the 
adequacy  of  the  present  equipment. 

Take  first  the  matter  of  lighting.  The  State  Department's 
standard  is  that  window  area  should  equal  one-fifth  of  the 
floor  area.  The  survey  made  a  complete  study  of  lighting  in 
the  Washington  and  Liberty  Street  schools,  the  former  being 
one  of  the  older  buildings,  the  latter  next  to  the  newest.  In 
the  Liberty  Street  School  but  two  rooms  meet  the  standard, 
the  other  seventeen  averaging  only  sixty  per  cent,  and  one 
room  only  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  standard.  In  the  Washington 
Street  School  but  six  of  the  sixteen  rooms  comply  with  the 
standard,  though  glass  partitions  between  some  of  the  rooms 
upset  the  calculations  to  some  extent.  These  conditions  are 
typical  of  all  buildings  except  the  Broadway  School. 

Again,  the  State  Department  standard  for  air  space 
requires  200  cubic  feet  for  every  pupil  to  be  accommodated. 
Of  the  thirty-five  rooms  in  the  Liberty  and  Washington  Street 
Schools,  only  fourteen  measure  up  to  the  standard.  The 


average  air  space  provided  in  the  rooms  falling  below  the 
standard  is  eighty-one  per  cent,  in  the  Washington  Street 
School,  and  eighty-eight  per  cent,  in  the  Liberty  Street  School. 
Four  rooms  in  the  two  schools  had  less  than  seventy-five  per 
cent,  of  the  requirement. 

The  State  standard  for  new  buildings  requires  one  toilet 
seat  to  every  twenty-five  boys,  one  to  every  fifteen  girls,  and 
one  urinal  to  every  fifteen  boys.  In  all  there  are  forty-seven 
toilet  seats  for  boys  in  Newburgh  schools  whereas,  the  stand- 
ard would  call  for  eighty,  and  there  are  sixty-three  seats  for 
girls  whereas  the  standard  would  call  for  121.  There  are 
forty-four  urinals  for  boys  whereas  the  standard  would  call 
for  127.  The  only  school  meeting  the  standard  is  the  Broad- 
way School. 

In  the  matter  of  desks,  too,  unsatisfactory  conditions 
exist.  Many  children  are  seated  at  desks  of  the  wrong  size, 
a  recognized  cause  of  round  shoulders.  Except  in  the  Broad- 
way School  there  are  many  rooms  having  no  variation  what- 
ever in  the  size  of  the  desks,  though  the  size  of  pupils  varies 
greatly.  Fifty-one  class  rooms  are  without  adjustable  desks, 
and  in  one  school  where  such  desks  are  provided  they  are  not 
adjusted  to  the  pupils.  One  school  has  no  such  desks  at  all, 
and  one  has  them  in  the  assembly  room  only,  where  they  are 
least  needed. 

Adequate  washing  facilities  are  not  furnished  in  any  of 
the  schools.  It  is  important  that  habits  of  cleanliness  be 
taught,  and  liquid  soap  and  tissue  towels,  which  have  been 
proven  practicable  for  school  purposes,  should  be  provided. 

Wardrobes,  too,  in  many  of  the  schools  are  inadequate 
and  obstruct  class  rooms  and  halls. 

The  State  Law  makes  mandatory  the  erection  of  fire 
escapes  on  all  three  story  buildings.  Two  local  three-story 
buildings,  the  Liberty  Street  School  and  the  Academy,  do  not 
meet  this  requirement.  Classes  or  assembly  are  held  on  the 
third  floor  in  both  buildings,  and  the  School  Board  is  assum- 
ing a  serious  responsibility  in  failing  to  comply  with  the  law. 

Heating  in  all  schools  seems  to  be  adequate.  This 
investigation  was  made  in  the  early  spring  when  the  matter 
could  not  be  easily  tested  for  definite  conclusions. 


To  furnish  proper  desks,  adequate  washing  facilities,  and 
fire  escapes,  is  comparatively  simple  and  inexpensive.  To  im- 
prove lighting  and  air  space  in  old  buildings  is,  however,  often 
a  difficult  and  expensive  matter,  but  it  is  not  insurmountable. 
Many  cities  have  met  and  solved  the  problem.  Jamestown, 
N.  Y.,  for  instance,  a  city  of  approximately  Newburgh's  size, 
has  just  completed  remodeling  some  of  her  old  buildings  to 
meet  the  same  difficulties  that  Newburgh  is  facing.  Water- 
town,  N.  Y.,  has  adopted  a  plan  of  improving  one  of  her 
schools  each  year.  Newburgh  might  profit  by  her  example. 
These  conditions  cannot  all  be  corrected  at  once,  but  it  is 
important  that  the  people  know  how  their  schools  stand  in 
these  regards  and  that  some  constructive  plan  be  developed 
for  dealing  with  the  problem — a  plan  which  will  insure  that, 
at  the  end  of  a  period  of  years,  no  children  will  need  to  gain 
their  education  in  poorly  lighted,  poorly  ventilated,  over- 
crowded school  rooms.  A  detailed  scientific  study  in  all 
schools  of  lighting,  air  space,  ventilation,  seating,  toilets,  ward- 
robes and  washing  facilities  would  be  an  intelligent  first  step 
toward  improving  conditions. 

SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  School  Board  in  Newburgh  assumes  much  detailed 
work  which  in  many  cities  is  left  largely  to  the  superintendent. 
School  adminstration  is  for  the  most  part  a  technical  matter, 
which  the  average  layman,  unless  he  devotes  much  time  to  it, 
can  hardly  be  expected  to  handle  in  the  most  effective  way. 
The  members  of  the  School  Board  do  not  pretend  to  visit  the 
schools  but  once  a  month;  generally  they  do  not  get  around 
that  often,  and  when  they  do,  it  is  only  for  a  most  cursory 
inspection.  With  such  small  contact  with  the  actual  work  of 
the  schools,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  manage  the  details  of 
school  administration  in  the  most  efficient  way.  As  a  general 
proposition  the  School  Board  should  pass  upon  matters  of 
general  policy,  after  advice  with  the  superintendent,  but  the 
details  of  school  administration,  the  selection  of  text  books, 
the  appointment  of  teachers,  minor  changes  in  the  curriculum, 
small  improvements  in  school  grounds  or  buildings,  and  the 

10 


like,  should  be  left  largely  to  the  superintendent,  who  is  a 
school  expert  devoting  all  of  his  time  to  the  work. 

It  is  our  opinion,  also,  that  greater  efficiency  would  be 
secured  if  the  administration  authorities,  whoever  they  may 
be,  consulted  the  teachers  more  regarding  administrative 
changes  in  matters  such  as  text  books,  programs  of  work, 
courses  of  study  and  the  like;  and  at  the  same  time  more 
thoroughly  supervised  their  work.  In  some  regards  teachers 
have  been  given  too  much,  in  others  not  enough  authority. 
For  instance,  in  some  schools  teachers  are  allowed  to  make  out 
their  own  daily  programs  without  adequate  supervision,  with 
the  result  that  some  place  emphasis  on  one  subject,  some  on 
another.  It  would  help  toward  better  results  if  all  teachers  of 
a  single  grade  were  to  meet  with  the  administrative  authorities 
and  discuss  common  problems,  after  which  uniform  daily 
programs  could  be  worked  out  and  put  into  operation. 

Teachers,  on  the  other  hand,  are  continually  gathering 
practical  experience  which  would  be  valuable  to  the  admin- 
istrative authorities.  Consequently  their  advice  may  often  be 
advantageously  sought  by  administrative  authorities. 

Poughkeepsie  furnishes  an  illustration  of  what  may  be 
done  in  this  regard.  The  school  management  was  dissatisfied 
with  the  reading  books  in  use,  but  instead  of  buying  new 
books  from  the  agent  who  could  in  a  few  minutes  present  his 
system  in  the  most  favorable  light,  the  Board  secured  copies 
of  books  in  six  different  systems  and  put  them  in  the  teachers' 
library.  Teachers  were  asked  to  study  them  carefully  and 
meetings  were  held  once  a  month  at  which  the  merits  of  each 
were  discussed.  At  the  end  of  a  year  a  vote  of  the  teachers 
was  taken.  It  was  unanimous  for  one  system  and  that  system 
was  adopted.  Incidentally,  it  was  not  the  system  which  is 
used  in  the  Newburgh  schools. 

THE  TEACHING  FORCE, 

The  teacher,  next  to  the  child,  is  the  most  important 
part  of  a  school  system,  and  it  is  especially  desirable  that  every 
provision  be  made,  not  only  for  securing  the  most  efficient 
teachers  possible,  hut  for  improving  their  efficiency  after 

11 


appointment.  A  fundamental  requirement  for  the  securing  of 
capable  teachers  is  the  offering  of  salaries  which  will  attract 
them.  Newburgh  economizes  on  teachers'  salaries.  The 
amount  per  pupil  spent  for  teachers'  salaries  in  Newburgh  is 
$22.53.  In  this  respect  the  city  ranks  seventh  among  the  ten 
cities  of  the  State  having  a  population  of  from  25,000  to  35,000. 
New  Rochelle,  the  leading  city,  spends  $37.27  per  pupil  in 
teachers'  salaries,  or  seventy  per  cent,  more  than  Newburgh. 
In  all  the  cities  of  the  State  the  average  expenditure  for 
teachers'  salaries  per  pupil  is  $34.95,  or  fifty-five  per  cent. 


NEWBURCHtCONOMIZESOlltaFKklliB 

PaiSi  n  Teachers  Salaries  Per  Pu  pij 


NewRochdle 

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MtVernon 
Auburn 

Nin&ira  Falls! 
Kingston 
Amsterdam 
Newburgh 
lbu#ikeepsie 
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Vfetertown 


j-'j.^pr'rsLT1 

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A 1 1  Ci  ti  es.2  5, 000  to  35[000,  Peo  p  1  e 


more  than  in  Newburgh.  The  effect  of  low  salaries  is  some- 
what offset  by  the  employment  of  local  persons  who  prefer 
to  teach  here  rather  than  to  go  elsewhere  and  get  higher 
salaries,  but  in  the  long  run  low  salaries  for  teachers  are 
pretty  sure  to  tell  in  the  quality  of  the  school  work.  New- 
burgh needs  to  ask  herself  whether  this  kind  of  economy 
really  pays. 

The  present  salary  schedule  is  based  partly  upon  length 
of  service,  partly  upon  grade  taught.  It  would  be  an  improve- 
ment if  the  grade  taught  were  left  out  of  consideration,  for  the 

12 


upper  grades  are  not  more  important  than  the  lower  nor  does 
it  require  more  skill  to  teach  them  well.  The  effect  of  the 
present  salary  schedule  is  often  to  tempt  teachers  to  leave  the 
grade  in  which  they  can  teach  most  effectively,  and  to  keep 
less  capable  teachers  in  the  lower  grades,  where  efficient 
teaching  is,  perhaps,  most  needed. 

Of  equal  importance  with  the  salary  schedule  in  its 
effect  upon  the  grade  of  work  of  the  teaching  force  is  the 
method  of  selecting  teachers.  In  New  York  State  all  teachers 
are  required  to  have  state  licenses  and  the  requirements  for 
securing  them  are  reasonably  high.  There  are,  however,  great 
differences  in  the  teaching  abilities  of  those  who  secure  licenses, 
and  it  is  eminently  desirable  that  Newburgh  secure  the  best 
teachers  who  present  themselves.  At  present  teachers  are 
selected  by  the  School  Board  upon  the  recommendation  of  its 
teachers'  committee.  This  system  has  resulted  in  many  cities 
in  appointment  through  personal  preferment  or  political  influ- 
ence. Methods  much  more  certain  to  assure  the  appointment 
of  the  most  capable  have  been  worked  out  elsewhere.  Ex- 
prience  has  shown  a  better  plan  to  be  a  system  of  appointment 
from  competitive  ratings  by  some  educational  authority  out- 
side the  city,  ratings  being  based  on  personality,  teaching 
experience,  knowledge  of  subject  matter  to  be  taught  and  of 
education  principles.  Examination  to  determine  physical  fit- 
ness before  appointment  is  also  desirable. 

The  struggle  for  teaching  efficiency  should  not  end, 
however,  with  adequate  salaries  and  selection  of  teachers  on 
a  competitive  basis.  The  administrative  authorities  should 
make  a  continuous  effort  to  seek  out  the  teachers  who  are 
not  getting  the  best  results  and  assist  them  to  greater  efficiency. 
These  may  be  located  by  having  the  principals  make  ratings 
of  the  work  of  teachers  under  their  charge,  by  comparing 
standings  in  uniform  examinations  of  pupils  in  different 
schools,  and  by  studies  of  attendance,  dropping  out,  and  non- 
promotion.  Little  has  been  done  in  this  regard  in  Newburgh. 

After  the  less  efficient  teachers  have  been  singled  out 
definite  steps  should  be  taken  to  aid  them.  In  New  York  city 
special  teachers  are  employed  for  this  purpose.  In  Newburgh 
if  such  special  trained  teachers  are  not  secured  the  work 

13 


might  be  performed  by  the  principals,  who  might  also  be 
sufficiently  relieved  of  their  teaching  responsibilities  to  permit 
it.  Less  capable  teachers  should  also  be  sent  to  study  the 
methods  of  the  more  successful  teachers,  and  urged  to  take 
special  work  in  summer  schools.  Moreover,  a  fair  allowance 
of  visiting  days  to  permit  teachers  to  visit  other  schools  at 
home  and  elsewhere  should  be  made.  Teachers'  Institutes, 
in  which  leading  educational  authorities  are  brought  to  the 
city  to  meet  with  the  teachers  and  discuss  educational  prob- 
lems, have  been  helpful  in  many  cities.  Supervisors  of  all 
rather  technical  subjects  are  also  desirable.  Newburgh  has 
supervisors  of  drawing  and  music,  and  has  also  special  sewing 
teachers.  We  raise  the  question  of  the  need  for  supervision 
of  penmanship  and  physical  training.  We  suggest  also,  as  a 
means  to  improve  efficiency,  that  a  special  increase  in  salary, 
say  at  the  end  of  five  years  service,  might  be  offered  to  all 
teachers  who,  in  the  meantime,  had  taken  work  at  the  summer 
session  of  some  teachers'  training  school  or  university.  Ithaca 
N.  Y.,  a  city  of  less  than  half  Newburgh's  size,  has  utilized 
all  of  these  methods  for  improving  teachers'  efficiency. 

SEMI-ANNUAL  PROMOTIONS. 

In  addition  to  studies  of  teaching  efficiency,  studies  of 
general  efficiency  will  help  to  locate  weaknesses  and  permit 
their  correction.  An  investigation  of  over-age,  for  instance, 
will  permit  the  authorities  to  discover  where  it  is  most  preva- 
lent and  study  to  eliminate  its  causes.  One  cause  in  Newburgh 
is  undoubtedly  the  absence  of  half-yearly  promotions.  When 
children  attend  regularly  and  do  good  work  it  makes 
little  difference  whether  they  are  promoted  annually  or  semi- 
annually,  but  when  children  are  out  of  school  several  weeks 
because  of  sickness  or  some  other  cause,  yearly  promotion 
often  results  in  their  losing  a  whole  year  when  they  would 
lose  but  half  a  year  under  a  half-yearly  promotion  system. 
Every  other  city  in  the  State  with  from  25,000  to  35,000 
inhabitants  has  semi-annual  promotions.  Newburgh  would 
do  well  to  follow  suit. 

14 


THE  WASHINGTON  STREET  SCHOOL. 
Large  School  Yard  Needed  for  Children's  Play. 


THE   BROADWAY  SCHOOL 
Newburgh's  Newest  and  Finest  School   Building. 


CLASS  FOR  BACKWARD  CHILDREN. 

Studies  of  non-promotion  also  serve  to  locate  weaknesses 
and  assist  in  their  elimination.  Not  only  do  they  aid  in 
locating  teachers  who  are  not  getting  the  best  results,  but 
together  with  over-age  studies  they  serve  to  point  out  children 
who  are  unable  to  keep  up  with  regular  classes  and  need 
special  care.  For  these  mentally  backward  children  many 
cities  provide  special  classes,  both  because  these  children  can 
be  better  cared  for  in  that  way,  and  because  they  are  a  dis- 
turbing element  in  regular  classes.  Amsterdam,  Auburn,  Mt. 
Vernon,  New  Rochelle,  Niagara  Falls,  and  Poughkeepsie 
provide  such  classes.  Jamestown,  Kingston,  Newburgh  and 
Watertown  do  not. 

Non-promotion  is  not  only  serious  for  the  child,  it  is  a 
burden  to  the  school  system.  It  costs  the  city  $17,724.12  a 
year  to  reteach  the  children  who  fail.  Why  not  put  more 
money  into  increasing  school  efficiency? 

DROPPING-OUT. 

One  of  the  important  tests  of  the  efficiency  of  a  school 
system  is  the  per  cent,  of  the  children  in  the  city  which  it 
reaches.  It  is,  therefore,  desirable  that  the  authorities  at- 
tempt to  discover  and  eliminate  the  causes  which  prevent  all 
children  from  getting  the  best  education  possible.  For  this 
purpose  studies  of  dropping-out  should  be  made  and  no  pupil 
should  be  allowed  to  secure  a  school  certificate  for  working 
papers  until  every  effort  has  been  made  to  have  him  continue 
in  school.  Often  a  conference  with  the  parent  will  do  much. 
Often,  also,  a  study  of  dropping-out  convinces  the  authorities 
that  more  practical  courses  in  manual  training,  commercial 
subjects,  and  domestic  science  need  to  be  offered  to  get 
pupils  and  parents  to  see  the  value  of  schooling. 

The  attitude  of  Newburgh  authorities  in  the  matter  of 
keeping  children  in  school  as  long  as  possible,  is  shown  in 
the  issuance  of  school  certificates  to  children  who  desired 
to  go  to  work.  The  law  has  not  required  that  a  certain  grade 
be  attained  before  a  certificate  is  issued,  but  has  defined 
certain  educational  requirements  which  must  be  complied 

15 


with.  Amsterdam,  Auburn,  Ithaca  and  Watertovvn  have 
interpreted  the  requirement  to  mean  that  a  child  must  be 
through  the  fifth  grade  before  he  or  she  can  get  a  certificate. 
Jamestown,  Buffalo,  Rochester,  and  New  York  City  require 
them  to  be  half  way  through  the  fifth  grade.  Mt.  Vernon  and 
Niagara  Falls  require  them  to  be  in  the  fifth  grade.  New- 
burgh  issued  nineteen  certificates  to  children  in  the  fourth 
grade  and  three  to  children  in  the  third  grade  in  1912.  Ap- 
parently the  authorities  have  not  taken  as  much  interest  in 
having  all  children  get  at  least  an  elementary  education  as 
the  authorities  in  other  cities.  Fortunately,  the  law  has  just 
been  amended  requiring  all  children  to  be  in  the  sixth  grade 
before  certificates  may  be  issued  to  them,  and  recommenda- 
tions in  this  matter  are  unnecessary. 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

In  order  that  the  schools  may  reach  the  maximum  number 
of  children  efforts  should  be  made  to  make  the  enforcement  of 
the  compulsory  education  laws  as  effective  as  possible.  The 
present  attendance  officer  seems  to  be  devoted  to  his  work. 
We  would  suggest,  however,  several  changes  in  administrative 
methods : 

I.  It  would  save  time  and  lead  to  better  results  if  the 
plan  of  having  the  officer  call  at  each  school  once  a  week  were 
abandoned  and  all  reports  of  truancy  were  telephoned  to  the 
superintendent's  office. 

II.  It   would   concentrate   responsibility   if   teachers   in 
all  schools  were  required  to  report  all  absences  to  the  princi- 
pals every  morning  and  principals  were  required  to  assume 
the  task  of  getting  children  back  in  school. 

III.  The  aid  of  the  police  department  in  reporting  all 
children  on  the  streets  during  school  hours  might  advantage- 
ously be  sought. 

IV.  Children  who  secure  working  certificates  should  be 
followed  up  to  see  if  they  obtain  work.     Two  such  children 
were  out  of  school  and  had  been  without  work  for  some  time 
when  the  survey  was  made. 

16 


V.  The  truant  officer  should  be  more  energetic  in  seek- 
ing the  co-operation  of  charitable  societies  in  poverty  and 
sickness  cases,  and  those  societies  should  be  more  energetic 
in  backing  him  up  so  that  children  already  handicapped  by 
poverty  will  not  have  the  additional  handicap  of  having  their 
education  curtailed.  The  State  law  wisely  provides  that  no 
child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  shall  be  out  of  school 
unless  he  is  himself  physically  or  mentally  incapacitated.  It 
makes  no  exceptions  and  the  school  authorities  have  no  power 
to  make  them. 


SONEGOODTHINGSINASCHOOLSllSrEN 

Compare  Newburgh  With  Other  Cities 

(White  Nocks  indicate  possession  of  the  specified  Features) 

Amster-  I..L,    '  James-]  Kings-  Mount  New-   New    Nia&ral  Pbugh-  Water 
dam    AUWm  town     ton    Vernon  burgh  Rochdfe    Fails  keepse  town 

tfaJTYcariyfttoiohons 

Supervisor 
Physical  Training 

Medical  Inspection 

!            1 

i       i 

i      i 

i      i 

i      i 

5 

i      i 

1           1 

1       1 

I        I 

|            | 

i       i 

i      i 

i      i 

i      i 

1 

1           1 

1       1 

35 

am 

i  i 

5 

55 

mm 

f 

ss 

1       1 

School  Dodor  or  tone 

i       i 

i       i 

i 

1       1 

i   i 

Supervisors  feinanshp 

•m 

i      i 

i      i 

i 

1       1 

1       1 

mm 

DomesticScienct 

i      i 

i      i 

i      i 

mm 

i 

i      i 

i 

1        1 

1       1 

\     \ 

School  Yards  ustd 
for  Playgrounds 

i      i 

i      i 

i      i 

i      i 

1       1 

i     i 

tasfrMmttifo 

Class  for  Truants 
and  Incorrigibles 

i      i 

I      I 

= 

S 

i 

1       1 

1       1 

asm 

mm 

BK 

\      i 

Kindergartens  I          I 

i      i 

i  —  i 

i      i 

i 

1       1 

i        i 

i      i 

Evenin^Schools 

1 

i      i 

i  —  i 

i      i 

! 

1       1 

I         I 

i      i 

NIGHT  SCHOOLS. 

Schools  may  also  be  extended  to  reach  more  pupils  by 
the  provision  of  night  schools  for  foreigners,  and  children 
who  have  been  forced  to  leave  school  but  desire  to  continue 
their  education.  Amsterdam,  Auburn,  Jamestown,  Mt.  Vernon, 
Niagara  Falls,  New  Rochelle,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Watertown 
all  make  such  provision.  Kingston  and  Newburgh  do  not. 

17 


KINDERGARTENS. 

Kindergartens  in  many  cities  meet  the  special  needs  of 
children  too  young  for  regular  school  work.  Every  city  in 
the  State  with  from  25,000  to  35,000  inhabitants  except  King- 
ston and  Newburgh  provide  kindergartens. 

VACATION  SCHOOLS. 

Ithaca,  Watertown,  and  several  other  smaller  sized  cities 
in  the  State  provide  vacation  schools  in  which  ambitious 
pupils  may  forge  ahead  and  where  those  who  have  failed  may 
make  up  work.  Newburgh  provides  no  such  school. 

SPECIAL  CLASS  FOR  TRUANTS  AND  INCORRIGIBLES. 

Not  only  should  the  schools  reach  as  many  children  as 
possible,  but  they  should  strive  to  provide  for  all  children 
according  to  their  needs.  It  has  been  found,  for  instance,  that 
there  is,  in  every  school,  a  group  of  truant  and  incorrigible 
children  who  get  little  from  the  regular  work  and  who  are  a. 
disturbing  element  in  their  classes.  Some  cities  have  seen  the 
advantage  both  to  these  children  and  to  the  general  school 
work  of  putting  them  in  a  class  by  themselves  under  the  charge 
of  a  teacher  especially  fitted  for  the  task,  and  giving  them 
instruction  of  a  practical  nature  which  will  interest  them 
anew  in  their  work.  New  Rochelle  and  Watertown,  for 
example,  make  special  provision  for  such  children.  Newburgh 
does  not. 

OPEN  AIR  CLASSES. 

Investigation  has  also  shown  that  anaemic  and  tuberculous 
children  profit  both  physically  and  mentally  by  open-air  classes, 
and  the  more  progressive  cities  are  providing  them.  New- 
burgh has  no  such  class,  though  the  Red  Cross  nurse  assures 
us  of  its  need. 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  development  in  the  way  of  making 
the  schools  fit  the  needs  of  pupils  has  been  the  development 
of  industrial  training.  Newburgh  has  made  good  beginnings 
in  this  regard.  She  has  a  well  equipped  manual  training  school 

18 


and  the  School  Board  has  recently  voted  to  institute  courses 
in  domestic  science.  Sewing  is  already  being  taught  but 
there  are  opportunities  for  greater  development  of  commercial 
courses.  The  whole  problem  of  tying  education  up  with  life 
is,  however,  still  in  the  process  of  evolution.  The  develop- 
ment of  part  time  classes  to  bridge  the  gap  between  the  school 
and  the  factory  is  just  in  its  beginnings  in  this  country.  Will 
Newburgh  take  the  lead,  or  trail  in  the  rear  in  this  develop- 
ment? 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING. 

Perhaps  more  important  than  a  child's  education 
after  all  is  its  health,  and  school  authorities  are  giving  more 
and  more  attention  to  it  every  year.  Newburgh  has  hardly 
made  a  beginning.  For  instance,  there  is  no  local  supervisor 
of  physical  training,  although  eight  of  the  ten  New  York 
State  cities  with  from  25,000  to  35,000  inhabitants  provide  one. 
Where  there  are  adequate  school  yards  they  are  given  over  to 
lawns  and  not  used  for  playgrounds  as  in  many  other  cities  of 
Newburgh's  size  in  New  York  State.  There  are  no  recess 
periods,  although  over  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  cities  of  the 
United  States  provide  for  them.  The  Parochial  School  pro- 
vides a  gymnasium,  but  there  is  none  in  any  public  school. 
Every  city  in  New  Jersey,  all  but  one  in  Massachusetts,  and 
more  than  half  of  the  cities  in  New  York  state  provide  medi- 
cal inspection  in  schools.  The  Newburgh  School  Board  voted 
down  the  proposition.  Amsterdam,  Auburn,  Mt.  Vernon, 
New  Rochelle,  Poughkeepsie  and  Watertown,  all  cities  of 
about  Newburgh's  size,  provide  a  school  doctor  or  nurse. 
Newburgh  does  not.  In  the  field  of  physical  training  and  care 
Newburgh  has  not  kept  up  with  present  day  development. 

SOCIAL  USE  OF  THE  SCHOOLS. 

Finally,  there  is  great  opportunity  for  placing  the  school 
buildings  at  the  service  of  all  citizens  outside  of  school  hours 
for  study  clubs,  mothers'  organizations,  more  lectures  and 
concerts,  public  meetings  and  for  recreation  purposes.  The  peo- 
ple of  Newburgh  have  $614,500.00  invested  in  school  grounds 
and  buildings  which  are  yielding  only  partial  returns,  for  they 
lie  idle  a  large  share  of  the  time.  It  is  poor  business  to  have 

19 


money  tied  up  in  an  idle  plant  when  it  might  yield  pleasures 
and  profit  to  the  people  of  the  city  to  whom  it  belongs.  The 
opening  of  school  buildings  for  public  meetings  and  for  social 
purposes  is  recommended  for  serious  consideration.  Many 
cities  have  already  set  the  example,  among  them  New  York 
City,  Buffalo,  Rochester,  and  Syracuse,  New  York  State's 
leading  cities. 

SCHOOL  EXPENDITURES. 

Before  closing  the  school  report,  a  word  should  be  said 
about  school  expenditures.  Many  of  the  recommendations 
we  have  made  call  for  the  expenditure  of  a  considerable 
amount  of  money.  Alteration  of  old  school  buildings  to  im- 
prove the  physical  conditions  is  expensive.  It  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  all  the  changes  can  be  made  at  once.  We  do 
believe,  however,  that  for  the  improvement  of  these  conditions 
plans  should  be  mapped  out  which,  after  a  term  of  years,  will 
put  the  schools  in  proper  physical  shape. 

The  adoption  of  other  of  our  recommendations  would 
require  the  annual  expenditure  of  more  money  for  maintenance 
purposes.  One  thing,  however,  the  city  must  recognize, — it 
takes  money  to  buy  education,  just  as  it  takes  money  to  buy 
commodities,  and  in  the  long  run  the  children  of  a  city  will 
get  just  about  the  kind  of  education  that  the  city  pays  for. 
Newburgh  has  economized  on  her  schools.  The  annual  school 
cost  per  pupil  has  been  but  $34.89,  in  which  respect  the  city 
stands  ninth  among  the  ten  cities  of  the  State  with  from  25,000 
to  35,000  inhabitants.  New  Rochelle,  the  leading  city,  spends 
$61.74  per  pupil,  or  $26.85  more  than  Newburgh.  The  average 
for  the  cities  of  the  State  is  $50.66  or  $15.77  more  than  in  New- 
burgh. Certainly  this  limited  expenditure  is  the  reason  for 
many  weak  places  in  Newburgh's  school  system  and  more 
money  must  be  appropriated  for  school  purposes  if  the  city  is 
to  keep  abreast  of  the  present  day  educational  development. 

On  the  other  hand  the  fact  must  not  be  obscured  that 
many  of  our  most  important  recommendations  call  for  a 
change  in  organization  or  method  and  require  the  expenditure 
of  little  or  no  money.  These  we  commend  to  the  people  of  the 
city  for  their  consideration. 

20 


Public  Health 

FRANZ  SCHNEIDER,  JR. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS,  RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION 

In  considering  her  public  health  situation,  Newburgh  may 
as  well  squarely  face  the  question  of  whether  she  would  remain 
with  the  unenlightened  many  or  join  the  progressive  few.  Her 
natural  sanitary  assets  are  on  the  whole,  probably  good,  but 
her  controllable  sanitary  conditions  are  not  maintained  at  a 
reasonably  high  standard.  An  analysis  of  the  death  rate  is, 
furthermore,  not  reassuring.  In  extenuation,  it  is  fair  to  say 
that  municipal  sanitation  had  undergone  tremendous  develop- 
ment in  the  past  few  years — new  methods  of  saving  life  and 
preventing  suffering  having  been  developed,  and  it  is  unfortu- 
nately a  fact  that  these  methods  have  not  yet  found  their  way 
into  most  small  cities.  Newburgh  is  still  with  this  majority, 
and  occasion  is  here  taken  to  point  out  why,  and  to  suggest 
the  adoption  of  those  procedures  which  have  been  attended 
elsewhere  with  demonstrated  success.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  but  that  many  unnecessary  deaths  now  occur  in  New- 
burgh each  year. 

The  chief  organized  effort  for  the  protection  of  a  city's 
health  is  naturally  the  municipal  department  of  health;  it  is 
important  therefore  to  determine  if  the  department  is  effec- 
tively organized,  adequately  financed,  and  efficiently  operated. 
The  Newburgh  department  will  be  discussed  here  on  this  basis, 
after  which  consideration  will  be  given  to  the  city's  status 
with  regard  to  certain  public  health  problems  of  a  general 
nature. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  HEALTH  DEPARTMENT. 

There  are  serious  defects  in  the  form  of  the  present  New- 
burgh organization.  The  policy  of  the  department,  for  one 
thing,  is  entrusted  to  a  board  of  seven  members,  while  the 
health  officer  occupies  a  pretty  purely  executive  position.  The 

21 


health  officer  is  now  essentially  the  servant  of  the  board.  With 
the  tremendous  advances  which  have  taken  place  in  late  years 
in  public  health  science,  especially  since  the  rise  of  bacteriology 
and  the  development  of  the  germ  theory  of  disease,  it  has  been 
found  advisable  to  hire  an  experienced  health  officer  and  give 
him  a  free  rein  in  the  management  of  the  department's  affairs. 
Health  department  work  now  calls  for  expert  knowledge  which 
cannot  be  expected  of  an  ordinary  board.  A  board  may  be 
desirable  to  advise  with  the  health  officer  or  guard  the  ordi- 
nance-making power,  but  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  cripple 
the  work  of  a  competent  official. 

Another  grave  handicap  to  the  department's  work  arises 
from  the  part-time  employment  of  a  health  officer  who  can 
give  but  an  hour  a  day  to  the  work.  Newburgh  is  big  enough 
and  her  public  health  important  enough  to  require  a  full  time 
official.  Such  a  man,  with  proper  authority,  would  have  time 
to  study  the  entire  health  situation,  and  to  lay  out  a  constructive 
program — something  which  Newburgh  now  sorely  needs. 

SCOPE  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT'S  WORK  AND  ADEQUACY  OF  ITS 
APPROPRIATION. 

It  is  of  course  perfectly  obvious  that  a  department  of 
health  cannot  give  effective  service  unless  properly  financed, 
and  the  question  of  the  adequacy  of  its  objects  and  efforts  can- 
not be  considered  without  reference  to  the  size  of  its  appro- 
priation. If  Newburgh  allows  her  health  department  less  than 
the  minimum  amount  of  money  required  to  cover  the  situation, 
she  cannot  expect  that  the  resulting  effort  will  be  anything 
but  fragmentary.  That  the  present  effort  is  fragmentary  be- 
comes evident  when  we  find  that  the  department  exercises  no 
sanitary  supervision  whatever  over  the  city's  water  supply,  its 
food  supply,  or  the  condition  of  its  housing.  Of  the  seven 
lines  of  health  department  activity  emphasized  by  Governor 
Sulzer's  Public  Health  Commission  as  definite  opportunities 
Newburgh's  department  has  made  no  start  whatever  on  three 
(medical  school  inspection,  venereal  diseases  and  infant  mor- 
tality), while  its  work  against  two  of  the  others  (tuberculosis 
and  typhoid  fever)  is  decidedly  slight.  The  present  activity 
of  the  department  may  be  characterized  as  largely  reflex. 

22 


Complaints  are  investigated  and  contagious  diseases  are  quar- 
antined in  a  fairly  satisfactory  manner,  but  the  department 
has  failed  to  initiate  constructive  programs  in  most  of  these 
branches  of  municipal  sanitation  where  the  greatest  saving  of 
lives  is  possible. 

Although  the  responsibility  for  this  state  of  affairs  rests 
largely  with  the  form  of  the  department's  organization  and 
the  part-time  employment  of  its  health  officer,  an  important 
contributory  factor  is  certainly  the  extreme  slenderness  of  the 


HOWftEWBURGHECONOMIZES  ON  HEALTH 

"J\  'Tale  or  'Three   Cities." 

Population  of  Tfiree  Cities 

North  Yakima,  Wash.     Montelair,  N.  J.          Newburgh 

•  e.soo       23,0'O.O      29,000 

What  GTFiese  Cities  Spend  for  Health  Department 

'11,80149  '6,777.36  '3,505.95 

What  'iney  Spend  for  each  Citizens  Health, 


*.74 


t.ia. 

Newburgji  spends  less  than  the  least  amount 
,  necessary  for  ef  f  i  ci  en  t  h  eal  t  h  s  er  v  ice- 


health  appropriation.  In  1912  the  total  municipal  expenditure 
charged  to  health  was  $8,665.18.  Of  this  amount,  $1,752.21 
went  to  pay  damages  in  an  outstanding  legal  action,  $210.02 
was  paid  for  the  care  of  insane  persons,  and  $3,197  went  in 
payments  to  the  county  tuberculosis  sanatorium.  Deducting 
these  items,  there  remains  $3,505.95  for  the  usual  preventive 
measure  of  the  health  department.  This  sum  represents  an 
expenditure  of  about  twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  inhabitant 
per  year,  a  figure  which  is  less  than  the  minimum  requirement 
for  adequate  service.  A  comparison  of  these  figures  with 
similar  figures  for  .the  town  of  Montelair  and  the  city  of 

23 


Orange — two  New  Jersey  communities  possessing  satisfactory 
health  departments  characterized  by  economy  and  efficiency, 
is  extremely  suggestive.  Montclair,  a  town  of  less  than  23,000 
inhabitants,  spent  $6,777.36  in  1911  for  activities  in  the  same 
field  in  which  Newburgh  spent  little  more  than  half  as  much 
in  the  following  year.  The  Montclair  department's  payroll 
in  1911  was  $5,556.20  as  compared  with  $2,232.31  in  New- 
burgh.  The  comparison  with  Orange,  where  unusually  low 
salaries  prevail  and  where  the  services  of  two  nurses  financed 
by  private  organizations  are  available  to  the  department,  is 
somewhat  more  favorable,  the  expenditure  there  being  only 
fifty  per  cent,  greater  than  Newburgh's.  The  lesson  is  entirely 
clear.  The  Newburgh  department  is  neither  properly  organ- 
ized, nor  has  it  a  sufficient  force  to  carry  on  the  essentials  of 
health  department  work. 

EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  HEALTH  DEPARTMENT'S  WORK. 

An  estimate  of  the  effectiveness  of  the  present  depart- 
ment's efforts  is  rendered  unusually  difficult  by  the  absence  of 
any  detailed  report  for  the  past  year.  The  only  report  for  that 
period  is  the  health  officer's, — six  typewritten  pages — which 
give  but  slight  indication  of  the  work  of  the  year,  or  of  the 
needs  of  the  department.  A  department's  annual  report  should 
contain  its  discussion  of  the  existing  health  situation  and  its 
recommendations  for  the  future;  and  should  thus  serve  as  its 
message  to  the  citizens  and  as  its  permanent  record  for  future 
reference  and  study.  Not  only  is  it  the  department's  declara- 
tion of  principles,  but  it  serves  as  well  as  the  basis  for  com- 
parisons leading  to  judgments  of  the  efficiency  of  its  endeavors. 
The  present  failure  to  publish  an  adequate  report  is  therefore 
additional  evidence  of  the  weakness  of  the  present  organization. 

The  registration  of  vital  statistics  cannot  be  regarded  as 
entirely  satisfactory.  The  details  of  filing,  and  the  filing  system 
itself,  are  commendable,  but  the  present  registrar  lacks  such 
familiarity  with  the  practice  and  principles  of  vital  statistics 
as  is  necessary  to  secure  proper  certification  of  the  causes  and 
the  circumstances  of  death.  In  looking  through  the  files  for 
1912,  for  example,  three  deaths  were  certified  as  caused  by 
marasmus,  a  term  which  is  descriptive  of  a  symptom  rather 

U 


than  of  a  cause  of  death,  and  which  is  commonly  recognized 
as  objectionable.  On  four  other  certificates  the  primary  cause 
was  stated  as  general  septic  peritonitis,  with  acute  appendicitis 
as  the  contributory  cause ;  it  is  entirely  probable  that  in  these 
cases  peritonitis  came  as  a  complication  of  appendicitis,  and 
not  the  reverse,  as  would  be  indicated  by  these  certificates. 
There  are  also  a  number  of  cases  in  which  infectious  diseases, 
as  whooping  cough  and  measles,  have  been  certified  the  second- 
ary or  contributory  cause,  while  the  last  complications  of  the 
disease,  such  as  broncho-pneumonia,  have  been  stated  as  pri- 
mary. In  the  first  death  registered  in  1913  the  primary  cause 
was  stated  as  lobar  pneumonia  of  three  days'  duration,  the  con- 
tributory cause  as  typhoid  fever  of  twenty  days.  A  second  death 
from  typhoid  in  January  of  this  year,  dying  in  the  ambulance 
on  the  way  to  the  hospital,  is  registered  under  shock.  Such 
certification  is  the  exact  reverse  of  the  intention  of  vital  statis- 
tics, and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  local  registrar  to  secure  from 
doctors  the  correction  of  such  returns. 

A  similar  defect  relates  to  the  statements  furnished  as  to 
the  duration  of  the  fatal  illness.  Out  of  fifty-nine  deaths  regis- 
tered in  January,  1913,  the  duration  was  stated  in  twenty-nine 
instances ;  in  thirteen  it  was  excusably  absent,  while  in  seven- 
teen it  failed  to  appear  when  it  might  reasonably  have  been  ex- 
pected. Under  the  present  arrangement  it  is  intended  that  the 
halth  officer  supervise  this  work  of  the  registrar,  but  his  time  is 
evidently  too  restricted  for  anything  of  this  kind. 

The  present  policy  of  the  department  looking  to  the 
vigorous  enforcement  of  the  law  requiring  prompt  recording 
of  births  and  deaths  is  to  be  commended.  All  persons  should 
be  brought  to  a  realization  of  the  importance  of  complete  and 
prompt  certification  of  births.  Not  only  are  later  property 
interests,  the  issuance  of  working  papers  and  the  like,  often 
dependent  upon  this  certification,  but  any  intelligent  study  and 
prevention  of  infant  mortality  must  have  its  beginning  here. 
Vital  statistics  is  the  book-keeping  of  sanitary  endeavor,  and 
must  be  the  guide  to  intelligent  administration ;  it  is  therefore 
most  important  that  the  work  of  registration  be  carried  out 
with  the  greatest  care. 

25 


The  sanitary  inspector  of  the  department  placards  and 
investigates  cases  of  certain  contagious  diseases,  responds  to 
complaints,  and  makes  any  original  inspections  that  may  come 
to  his  attention.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  work  is 
faithfully  performed  and  that  the  inspector  shows  an  unusual 
amount  of  interest  in  his  work.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  however, 
that  the  effectiveness  of  his  endeavors  could  be  materially  in- 
creased by  suitable  supervision.  Owing  to  the  limitation  of 
the  health  officer's  time,  and  to  the  inspector's  responsibility 
to  both  board  and  health  officer,  there  is  no  systematic  planning 


AN  HOUR  A  DAY  FOR  NEWBUMHS  HEALTH 

Newbut$ishcallh  officer  devotes  one  hour  aday  to  guard  the  health  of  29.000  people 

What  He  Does  in  Or\e  Hour  Jl  Day 

1- Examine  children  for. labor,. certificates 
2-Take  charge  of  i  nsane  persons  pending  commitment 
S-BominebaderiobJicalspedmensfordiplheriaand  tiberaibis 
4-Give  attention  to  complaints 
5-  Supervise  the  work,  of  the  department 

What  Jin  Eight-Hour-a-Day  Health  Officer  Would  Do 

l-Do  all  of  the  above  and  have  time  to  do  it  better- 
2- Supervise  his  subordinates 
3-Study  health  conditions 
4- Organize  campaigns  against  disease 

Wi  II  Newbu  r£h  pay  for  a  full-time  health  officer? 


of  his  work.  Privy  vaults  and  manure  pits  are  inspected,  but 
no  attempt  is  made  to  cover  the  city  in  a  thorough  and  sys- 
tematic way,  and  records  of  the  work  are  not  kept  in  such 
form  as  will  be  valuable  for  later  studies  of  the  situation. 
There  is  no  systematic  use  of  the  inspector  to  investigate  and 
study  the  private  wells  of  the  city,  or  the  housing  conditions. 
It  is  entirely  probable  that  one  inspector  cannot  cover  the  city 
in  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  way,  but  it  is  clear  that  his  work 
would  be  far  more  valuable  if  systematically  laid  out.  It  is 

26 


perhaps  only  fair  to  note  that  the  present  arrangement  for 
sanitary  inspection  has  only  finished  its  first  year ;  the  depart- 
ment should,  however,  hasten  to  plan  a  program  towards  which 
its  efforts  will  be  cumulative. 

The  health  officer,  as  has  already  been  indicated,  cannot  do 
justice  to  himself  or  the  situation  in  the  time  at  his  disposal. 
He  is  deserving  of  credit  for  his  stand  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  regulations  relating  to  vital  statistics  and  the  control  of 
contagious  diseases,  for  his  opinions  and  practice  regarding 
the  publicity  and  educational  features  of  the  work,  and  for 
his  appreciation  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  present  arrange- 
ment. As  he  must  examine  children  for  labor  certificates,  take 
charge  of  insane  persons  pending  commitment,  examine  speci- 
mens for  bacteriological  diagnosis,  and  give  attention  to  com- 
plaints and  the  like,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  one  hour  a  day 
which  he  can  give  to  the  work  permits  of  little  constructive 
activity.  Of  this  he  is  keenly  conscious. 

The  present  control  of  communicable  disease  suffers 
seriously  from  lack  of  contagious  disease  hospital  facilities. 
Hospitalization  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  successful  treat- 
ment of  many  of  the  severe  cases  of  these  diseases,  and  for 
those  in  which  proper  isolation  cannot  be  maintained  at  home. 
The  omission  is  therefore  of  deadly  import.  Another  improve- 
ment would  be  the  more  frequent  use  of  laboratory  diagnosis 
in  suspected  diphtheria.  Only  about  half  the  physicians  now 
seem  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity,  and  as  early 
diagnosis  allows  of  early  isolation  and  early  use  of  anti-toxin, 
both  physicians  and  laymen  should  insist  that  cultures  be  taken 
from  all  cases  of  suspicious  sore  throat.  The  department  would 
also  do  well  to  insist  on  two  successive  negative  cultures  from 
both  throat  and  nose  before  release  in  diphtheria.  The  value 
of  the  quarantine  now  practiced  should  be  augmented  by  an 
increased  inspection  force. 

The  work  of  the  local  laboratory  is  limited  to  the  bacteri- 
ological examination  of  specimens  for  diphtheria  and  tubercu- 
losis. As  laboratory  work  is  one  of  the  important  links  in  the 
sanitary  chain,  it  should  be  maintained  at  a  high  standard  and 
extended  where  possible.  A  reliable  temperature  regulator 
should  be  fitted  to  the  blood  heat  incubator.  The  department 

27 


makes  no  examinations  of  water  and  practically  none  of  milk, 
and  for  any  extension  of  its  activities  such  as  is  advocated  in 
this  report,  laboratory  facilities  will  have  to  be  added. 

TYPHOID  FEVER  IN  NEWBURGH. 

One  of  the  most  serious  situations  in  the  city,  and  one 
which  cries  loudly  for  relief,  relates  to  typhoid  fever.  The 
city  has  long  had  a  typhoid  rate  far  in  excess  of  the  average, 
and  has  been  aptly  characterized  "a  typhoid  town."  Careful 
examination  of  the  mortality  statistics  indicates  that  there  is 
justification  for  the  opprobrium. 

Looking  through  the  death  certificates  on  file  at  the  health 
department  office  for  the  last  seven  years  (1906-1912  inclusive) 
it  appears  that  in  this  period  eighty-six  deaths  occurred  in  the 
city  which  were  attributed  to  typhoid  fever.  Forty  of  these 
were  of  residents  at  their  homes,  thirteen  of  residents  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  seventeen  of  non-residents  at  St.  Luke's,  and 
sixteen  at  St.  Luke's  in  which  the  residence  was  not  stated. 
There  were  accordingly  fifty-three  deaths  of  persons  definitely 
stated  to  be  residents  of  Newburgh,  seventeen  of  persons  defi- 
nitely stated  to  be  non-residents,  and  sixteen  of  persons  a  state- 
ment of  whose  residence  failed  to  appear.  Ascribing  a  fair 
proportion  of  the  deaths  of  unstated  residence  to  Newburgh, 
her  total  for  the  period  will  be  sixty,  and  her  corrected  rate 
thirty-one  per  hundred  thousand,  as  compared  with  sixteen 
and  a  half  for  the  entire  state  in  a  comparable  period.  Even 
omitting  the  apportionment  of  those  deaths  in  which  the  resi- 
dence of  the  deceased  was  not  stated,  and  taking  merely  those 
definitely  stated  as  of  residents  of  the  city,  the  rate  is  still  over 
twenty-seven. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  typhoid  fever  has  per- 
sisted in  Newburgh  in  a  way  that  is  entirely  inexcusable.  The 
deaths  enumerated  above  were  fairly  evenly  distributed  among 
the  seven  years,  and  represent  three  or  four  hundred  cases  of 
the  disease.  Taking  the  Pittsburgh  Survey's  figures  of  four 
thousand  dollars  for  a  death  and  $128.00  for  a  case,  these 
figures  represent  an  economic  loss  to  the  city  of  something 
like  forty  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Half  of  this  should  be 
easily  preventable.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  every  case 

28 


of  typhoid  fever  means  that  the  sufferer  has  swallowed  part 
of  the  bowel  or  bladder  discharges  of  a  previous  patient  and 
that  the  disease  is  pre-eminently  one  of  defective  sanitation. 
It  cannot  be  stated  too  emphatically  that  the  city  should  tolerate 
this  scourge  no  longer. 

Some  discussion  of  the  probable  vehicles  of  the  disease 
is  in  order.  Milk  can  carry  the  infection,  and  undoubtedly  has 
"been  responsible  for  some  of  the  typhoid  in  the  city.  But  the 
incidence  and  persistence  of  the  disease  is,  on  the  whole,  not 
typical  of  milk  infection.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  of  the 
seventy-six  cases  reported  to  the  health  department  in  1912, 
twenty-nine  were  attributed  to  this  source.  A  certain  amount 
of  all  typhoid  fever  may  be  attributed  to  direct  contact  with 
a  previous  case,  and  a  certain  amount  may  be  caused  by  flies 
and  improperly  screened  privy  vaults.  There  is,  however, 
nothing  to  indicate  that  the  care  of  patients  and  the  disinfec- 
tion of  their  discharges  has  been  unusually  bad  in  Newburgh. 

There  remains  the  possibility  that  the  infection  has  been 
carried  by  the  water  supply.  The  Newburgh  supply  is  a  surface 
one,  being  taken  from  a  series  of  small  streams  and  a  reservoir 
a  few  miles  from  the  city.  There  is  no  process  of  purification. 
Such  a  supply — with  a  considerable  population  on  the  water- 
shed, is  always  open  to  the  possibility  of  occasional  pollution 
or  infection.  While  the  city  has  made  no  determinations  of 
the  sanitary  condition  of  the  water,  analyses  which  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time  by  the  State  Board  of  Health  indicate 
that  the  water  does,  in  fact,  often  receive  some  pollution.  The 
bacterial  content  of  the  water,  as  shown  by  these  figures,  is 
higher  than  might  reasonably  be  expected,  and  organisms  of 
fecal  type  are  almost  invariably  present.  This  intestinal  pollu- 
tion may,  of  course,  come  from  horses  or  cattle  which  are 
known  to  be  on  the  water-shed,  but  the  possibility  of  pollution 
of  human  origin  is  certainly  also  present.  It  should  be  noted 
that  the  seventy-six  cases  of  typhoid  fever  reported  in  1912 
drank,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  city  water.  While  it 
cannot  be  stated  definitely  that  the  city's  typhoid  is  due  to  the 
public  water  supply,  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  circum- 
stances call  for  a  prompt  and  thorough  investigation  of  the 
latter. 

29 


Comparison  with  the  treatment  of  New  York  City's  water 
supply  may  carry  a  lesson  for  Newburgh.  This  water,  though 
giving  a  better  analytical  indication  than  Newburgh's,  is  now 
all  disinfected  in  order  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  any  occa- 
sional pollution.  Such  disinfection  of  a  supply  with  chlorine,  if 
properly  perforced,  in  entirely  uninjurious  of  itself  and 
unobjectionable  from  an  aesthetic  standpoint.  The  expense  is, 
fortunately,  trifling.  The  existence  of  such  a  process  offers 
the  city  the  opportunity  to  easily  and  cheaply  test  out  the 
water  theory  of  infection,  and  to  eliminate  this  possibility  of 
danger  to  the  citizens. 

The  seriousness  of  the  persistent  presence  of  this  pre- 
ventable infectious  disease  cannot  be  minimized.  The  typhoid 
rate  is  assuredly  one  of  the  most  dependable  criteria  of  the 
status  of  municipal  sanitation  in  a  city,  and  its  high  position  in 
Newburgh  is  certainly  a  vigorous  argument  for  improving  the 
city's  public  health  service. 

SEWERAGE. 

It  would  appear  that  the  city  is  on  whole  well  sewered, 
and  possesses  a  comprehensive  sewer  plan  for  the  future.  The 
present  policy  of  extending  sewers  and  compelling  connection 
should  be  continued,  and  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  cam- 
paign for  the  elimination  or  regulation  of  all  privy  vaults.  The 
present  trunk  sewer  stops  short  of  the  river  by  a  few  hundred 
feet,  the  sewage  being  conveyed  over  this  distance  in  an  open, 
canal.  The  undesirability  of  this  feature  must  be  admitted. 

MILK  SUPPLY. 

The  serious  point  about  the  city's  milk  supply  is  that  no> 
one  actually  knows  the  quality  of  milk  delivered.  There  has 
been  no  examination  of  the  milk  itself,  and  no  adequate  super- 
vision of  the  places  of  production  or  handling.  Dealers  are 
licensed  and  inspected  yearly,  but  as  the  strength  of  inspection 
lies  in  re-inspection,  much  more  frequent  visits  are  necessary. 
Chemical  and  bacteriological  examinations  of  milk  should  be 
instituted,  and  the  results,  with  the  dealer's  name  and  all  dairy 
scores,  should  be  published  in  the  newspapers  for  public  in- 
formation. Pasteurization  should  be  encouraged  or  required- 

30 


INFANT  MORTALITY. 

As  one  of  every  eight  infants  born  dies  in  its  first  year  of 
life  and  as  this  mortality  represents  fifteen  per  cent,  of  all 
deaths,  the  saving  of  infant  life  should  be  one  of  the  most 
important  objects  of  a  health  department.  Seventy-one  New- 
burgh  infants  died  in  their  first  year  in  1911,  and  sixty-six 
in  the  following  year.  Judging  by  the  experience  of  other 
cities  where  proper  preventive  measures  have  been  initiated,  a 
considerable  number  of  these  deaths,  possibly  a  fourth  or  a 


INFANT  MORTALITY 

66  Newbur£h  infants  under  one_year  of  a£e 
died  in  1912  Most  of  them  should  have  lived 


for  theHealth  Department  to  Save  Babies 

I  -By  popular  health  education 

2~  By  control  of  midwives 

3-By  advice  tomothens 

4-  By  a.  pu.re  milk  supply 

5"  By  a.n  infant  welfare  station 

Shall  we  Prevent  this  needless 
<Tra£edy  Next  Year  f 


third,  might  have  been  prevented.  Midwives  should  be  regis- 
tered and  examined,  prompt  birth  reporting  required,  expectant 
mothers  visited  by  a  health  department  nurse,  and  instructions 
given  as  to  care  and  feeding  of  infants.  Infant  welfare  sta- 
tions may  also  be  established.  The  fruitful  character  of  this 
work  has  been  demonstrated  and  the  city's  health  department 
should  assuredly  take  steps  to  meet  the  situation. 

31 


TUBERCULOSIS. 

The  prevention  of  tuberculosis  is  assuredly  another  major 
opportunity  of  a  health  department.  Taking  the  1911  mortality 
of  forty-two  as  a  basis,  there  are  probably  over  three  hundred 
cases  of  this  disease  in  the  city.  Cases  must  now  be  reported 
to  the  health  department  and  doctors  are  asked  to  accept 
responsibility  for  proper  maintenance  of  the  patient.  The  Red 
Cross  nurse  also  does  useful  work  with  some  fifty  or  sixty 
cases;  but  this  kind  of  work  should  be  greatly  extended  and 
taken  over  by  the  department.  Only  the  most  advanced  cases 
now  receive  sanatorium  treatment,  and  to  discover  the  incipient 
cases  and  secure  their  cure  while  still  possible,  the  health 
department  will  have  to  make  liberal  use  of  visiting  nurses 
and  other  educational  agencies.  The  present  county  sanatorium 
facilities,  though  being  enlarged,  are  quite  inadequate.  The 
enlarged  sanatorium,  which  must  accept  cases  from  the  entire 
county,  will  have  hardly  more  accommodations  than  are  neces- 
sary for  the  proper  demand  of  Newburgh  alone.  The  great 
•economic  importance  of  tuberculosis  certainly  justifies  more 
emphasis  being  given  to  this  phase  of  the  local  health  situation. 
Here  is  a  rich  field  for  the  prevention  of  suffering  and  the 
saving  of  life. 

MEDICAL  INSPECTION  OF  SCHOOLS. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  city  is  taking  none  of  the 
accepted  measures  to  protect  the  health  of  the  new-born  or  the 
very  young.  Its  lack  of  medical  inspection  of  schools  has 
therefore  the  virtue  of  consistency.  It  must  be  admitted,  how- 
ever, that  there  is  embodied  in  such  consistency  a  sad  failure 
to  take  advantage  of  plain  opportunities.  In  a  multitude  of 
cities,  both  here  and  abroad,  it  has  been  shown  that  a  proper 
system  of  school  inspection  with  follow-up  nursing  not  only 
discovers  cases  of  contagious  diseases  and  so  prevents  the 
spread  of  infection,  but  brings  to  light  numerous  minor  defects 
— the  remedying  of  which  has  very  real  effects  upon  the  vigor 
and  progress  of  the  children.  Nearly  half  the  cities  of  the 
state  have  now  adopted  medical  inspection  of  schools,  and  the 
Public  Health  Commission  has  recommended  a  mandatory 
state-wide  law.  Absence  of  this  work  in  Newburgh  is  simply 
a  sign  of  municipal  neglect. 

32 


HOSPITAL  FACILITIES. 

The  glaring  needs  in  the  hospital  situation  arise  from  the 
inadequacy  of  the  present  tuberculosis  sanatorium  and  the  lack 
of  contagious  disease  hospital  facilities.  It  may  also  be  noted 
that  there  is  at  present  no  provision  for  the  care  of  maternity 
cases  among  the  poor.  It  seems,  furthermore,  entirely  probable 
that  the  city  would  benefit  greatly  by  a  municipal  clinic  and  dis- 
pensary. This  would  assure  adequate  treatment  of  patients 
who  are  often  a  burden  and  annoyance  to  doctors,  and  would 
greatly  aid  the  health  department  in  its  work  against  com- 
municable diseases  and  infant  mortality. 

VENEREAL  DISEASES. 

The  extent  of  the  ravages  of  the  venereal  diseases  and  the 
importance  of  their  study  and  control  by  health  departments 
are  just  coming  to  realization.  Although  deaths  are  seldom 
certified  as  from  gonorrhoea  and  syphilis,  these  diseases  are 
really  responsible  for  many  premature  deaths  in  later  life 
which  are  certified  under  a  variety  of  organic  causes.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  both  these  diseases  are  caused  by 
specific  micro-organisms,  and  that  they  are  infectious  and 
preventable.  The  first  step  in  controlling  them  is  to 
secure  information  as  to  their  prevalence  and  distribution 
in  the  community.  The  health  department  should  offer  labora- 
tory facilities  for  diagnosis,  and  request  the  reporting  of  cases 
by  physicians.  A  campaign  of  judicious  publicity  and  educa- 
tion should  then  be  instituted.  A  health  department  clinic 
would  here  find  one  of  its  major  opportunities  to  relieve  suffer- 
ing and  to  protect  the  community. 

OTHER  PROBLEMS. 

In  the  time  available  it  has  been  possible  to  investigate 
only  those  questions  which  seem  to  have  special  health  signifi- 
cance or  strategic  importance.  Among  other  local  problems  of 
some  sanitary  import  may  be  mentioned  refuse  disposal  and 
street  cleaning.  These  are  matters  of  proper  engineering 
efficiency,  and  the  city  is  certainly  reasonable  in  demanding 
cleanliness  and  decency.  It  may  be  mentioned  in  passing  that 

33 


the  city  suffers  to  an  unusual  degree  from  dust,  due  no  doubt 
to  the  large  percentage  of  dirt  streets  in  the  city.  Although  it 
is  difficult  to  measure  the  hygienic  effects  of  dust,  the  matter 
undoubtedly  is  of  some  real  importance,  and  some  of  the  ac- 
cepted steps  should  be  taken  to  meet  the  situation.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  hygiene  of  occupation  may  also  be  mentioned.  Al- 
though this  important  matter  is  in  general  delegated  to  the 
State  Bureau  of  Labor,  a  wide-awake  local  health  department 
could  undoubtedly  do  much  here  to  protect  the  health  of  its 
citizens. 


MILK  SUPPUY 

Inspection  is  necessary  for  clean  milk 
Paste  iirization  is  necessary  for  safe  milk 

THE  HEALTH  DEPARTMENT  NOW 

I" Licenses  dealers 

E'Makes^yearly  inspection  of  stones  and  dairies 

THE  DEPARTMENT  SHOULD  ALSO 

l-J1ake  frequent  i  nspections  of  alldairies  andstores 
2-Make  frequentchemicaland bacteriological  ex- 
aminations of  all  milk  supplies 
3-Publish  dairy  scores' in  the  newspapers 
4'Encoura^e  or  require  pasteurization 


BRIEF  SUMMARY  OF  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  that  although  the  city's 
natural  health  assets  are  probably  good,  very  little  is  being 
done  to  conserve  or  improve  them.  The  city's  health  work 
suffers  badly  from  defective  organization  and  lack  of  an  ade- 
quate staff. 

34 


The  situation  calls  for  a  thorough-going  re-organiza- 
tion. A  full  time  health  officer,  endowed  with  proper 
authority  and  responsibility,  is  indicated ;  and  additional  assist- 
ance in  the  form  of  nurses  or  inspectors  should  be  provided  to 
permit  of  new  and  important  work  in  tuberculosis,  infant 
hygiene,  the  control  of  communicable  diseases,  and  various 
sanitary  inspections — such  as  of  housing,  privy  vaults,  and  the 
like.  The  milk,  water,  and  food  supplies — now  neglected, 
should  receive  reasonable  supervision,  both  from  the  stand- 
point of  inspection  and  of  laboratory  examination.  A  health 
department  clinic  and  dispensary,  which  should  be  of  great 
help  in  eliminating  unrecognized  and  neglected  sources  of 
infection  in  the  city,  and  in  the  health  department's  work 
against  infant  mortality  and  communicable  diseases,  is  also 
earnestly  suggested.  Finally,  a  thorough  investigation  of  the 
typhoid  situation  should  certainly  be  instituted.  These  steps, 
if  taken,  should  materially  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  present 
work  and  secure  to  the  city  an  up-to-date  and  reasonably  com- 
plete health  program. 

It  must  be  emphasized  that  these  recommendations 
embody  the  minimum  requirements  for  a  progressive 
city,  and  it  is  fortunate  that  to  secure  them,  and  so  place 
Newburgh  among  the  more  thoroughly  civilized  cities  of  her 
class,  will  require  the  expenditure  of  but  a  few  thousand 
dollars.  The  statement  is  now  freely  made  by  authorities  that, 
within  limits,  public  health  is  purchasable.  The  opportunity 
to  buy  now  confronts  Newburgh  in  practically  its  entirety. 


35 


Housing  Conditions  of  Newburgh 

Miss  AMY  WOODS. 
SECRETARY  NEWBURGH  ASSOCIATED  CHARITIES. 

The  present  housing  investigation  has  been  undertaken, 
not  with  the  idea  of  covering  the  entire  city  of  Newburgh,  nor 
even  a  sufficiently  large  proportion  of  the  territory  to  draw  city 
— wide  conclusions  based  on  percentages.  It  is  intended  rather 
to  show  what  may  be  found  in  certain  sections  of  the  city  where 
the  men  and  women  of  unskilled  labor,  whose  wages  seldom 
rise  above  $12.00  a  week,  must  seek  homes.  The  field  covered 
includes  seventeen  streets  located  in  the  six  wards  of  the  city. 
Individual  houses  were  not  singled  out  but  all  buildings  on  one 
side  of  certain  streets  for  a  given  distance  were  visited.  In 
this  way  the  best  as  well  as  the  worst  conditions  of  that  section 
were  noted.  One  hundred  and  forty-seven  houses  were  inves- 
tigated and  the  living  conditions  of  276  families  or  1357  indi- 
viduals have  been  tabulated.  In  every  case  the  statement  of 
the  resident  interviewed  was  accepted  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  persons  in  the  household,  although  there  were  evidences  of 
additional  boarders,  who,  if  counted,  would  probably  have 
raised  the  total  above  1400.  The  number  of  individuals  con- 
cerned represents  roughly  five  per  cent,  of  the  population. 
Thirteen  race  or  national  groups  are  included :  American, 
Italian,  Irish,  Negro,  English,  Slavish,  German,  Polish,  He- 
brew, Scotch,  Syrian,  Austrian  and  Norwegian.  Over  half 
the  people  visited  were  found  in  the  first  three  groups : 
American  (twenty-two  per  cent.),  Italian  (twenty-one  per 
cent.),  and  Irish  (thirteen  per  cent.). 

HOUSING  CREDITS. 

After  classifying  and  tabulating  the  findings,  the  various 
data  showing  favorable  and  adverse  housing  conditions  were 
brought  together.  They  may  only  be  summarized  here. 

36 


On  the  credit  side  it  was  found  that  three-fifths  of  the 
families  studied  have  at  least  one  room  that  can  be  used  as  a 
common  meeting  place  for  the  family's  social  life;  more  than 
half  of  the  houses  are  either  two-family  or  single  detached 
houses;  and  of  this  number  the  largest  part,  forty- four  per 
cent.,  represents  single  houses.  For  the  whole  of  the  city  the 
proportion  undoubtedly  is  still  higher.  Again,  on  the  credit  side 
it  was  found  that  in  the  sections  of  the  city  studied  the  greatest 
part  of  the  tenements  do  not  run  up  over  three  stories,  and 
that  most  of  them  are  only  two  rooms  deep  thus  giving  favor- 
able air  and  light  possibilities.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
houses  have  either  basements  or  cellars,  and  for  the  most  part 
the  cellars  are  dry.  Again,  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  houses 
cover  not  more  than  half  of  the  lot  area,  thus  affording  further 
access  to  outside  light  and  air.  Ninety-nine  and  one-half  per 
cent,  of  the  houses  are  connected  with  the  city  water  supply, 
and  in  practically  all  cases  there  are  opportunities  for  home 
gardens.  Three-fourths  of  the  houses  are  connected  with  the 
city  sewers.  Moreover  the  city  collection  of  ashes  is  to  be 
.commended  for  its  promptness  and  regularity. 

HOUSING  DEBITS. 

On  the  other  hand,  offsetting  these  housing  credits,  were 
found  a  number  of  housing  debits.  That  the  lodger  problem 
exists  in  the  parts  of  the  city  covered  by  this  study,  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  over  ten  per  cent,  of  the  population 
were  found  to  be  adult  boarders.  For  the  most  part  the  num- 
ber of  lodgers  in  each  family  were  small,  although  two  Italian 
families  had  as  many  as  ten  and  twelve  each.  A  few  other 
cases  chosen  almost  at  random  are  illustrative.  One  is  an 
American  household  consisting  of  a  man,  his  wife,  their 
ten  children  and  one  boarder.  They  were  living  in  five  rooms. 
The  mother  and  father  (who,  incidentally,  showed  evidences 
of  mental  deficiency)  slept  in  the  kitchen.  The  four  girls  and 
six  boys,  ranging  from  four  months  to  seventeen  years  of  age, 
and  one  male  boarder  slept  in  the  other  four  rooms. 

Another  case  is  that  of  an  Italian  household,  numbering 
seven,  four  of  whom,  one  woman  and  three  men,  were  boarders 
and  slept  in  one  dark  room  opening  only  into  the  kitchen. 

37 


In  another  Italian  family  five  lodgers  were  found  who 
slept  in  a  long  narrow  room  just  large  enough  for  three 
double  beds  and  with  only  a  small  window  at  one  end  of  the 
room.  The  only  door  leads  into  a  room  which  a  man,  reported 
to  be  "so  sick  as  to  be  unable  to  work  for  these  past  two  years", 
shares  with  his  sister.  The  sister  occupies  a  small  alcove  cur- 
tained off  with  a  sheet. 

Still  another  is  the  case  of  a  widow  with  five  children 
and  four  boarders  occupying  five  rooms.  The  mother  and 
three  children  sleep  in  the  one  bed  in  a  room  eight  by  nine 
feet  square,  and  the  four  men  boarders  occupy  one  room  on 
the  same  floor. 

These  and  the  many  other  cases  showed  the  boarder  to  be 
an  important  factor  in  room  over-crowding  with  all  its  attend- 
ant physical  and  moral  risks.  In  addition  even  where  there  is 
only  one  outsider  in  the  family,  he  is  a  menace  to  family 
privacy  which  in  many  cases  is  already  infringed  upon  because 
of  small  quarters.  It  was  found,  that  two-fifths  of  the  fam- 
ilies had  no  extra  room,  but  were  obliged  to  center  all  their 
home  social  life  in  kitchen  or  bedroom.  This  fact  doubtless  fig- 
ures among  the  reasons  why  so  many  of  the  young  people  after 
a  long  day  in  factory  or  store  seek  their  recreation  on  the 
streets.  Two-fifths  of  the  buildings  were  in  fair  repair  and 
one-fifth  were  in  bad  repair.  Over  ninety  per  cent,  of  the 
houses  have  no  bath  tubs  and  one-fourth  are  not  connected 
with  the  sewers.  A  little  more  than  one-fourth  of  all  toilets 
are  outside  and  four-fifths  of  these  are  not  connected  with  the 
sewers,  and  seldom  cleaned.  Moreover,  191  families,  or  sixty- 
nine  per  cent,  of  all,  used  in-door  and  out-door  toilets  in 
common  with  other  families  and  this  undoubtedly  contributed 
to  the  considerable  number  that  were  found  in  a  bad  state  of 
sanitation  and  repair.  Sixteen  of  the  privy  vaults  were  reported 
as  nuisances.  Whether  inside  or  outside,  toilets  that  are  in 
bad  repair  or  filthy  condition  are  a  menace  to  health  and  should 
at  least  be  made  wholesome.  There  were  no  privy  vaults 
found  which  were  not  accessible  to  flies. 

Again,  attention  was  given  to  fire-escapes  on  three-story 
tenements,  and  it  was  found  that  of  the  sixty-three  buildings 

38 


OUT  ANN   STREET 
Garbage  Receptacles  Do  Not  Beautify  Newburgh  Streets. 


TYPICAL  WORKINGMEN'S  HOUSES. 
Basements  and  Attics  Used  for  Residential  Purposes. 


inspected,  none  had  means  of  escape  from  fire  other  than  the 
ordinary  wooden  stairs. 

LODGING  HOUSES. 

Lodging  houses  as  such,  were  not  investigated,  but  a 
number  that  were  run  across  in  the  general  study  show  them 
to  be  an  important  element  of  the  local  housing  condition.  One 
illustration  may  be  cited.  A  five  story  building  used  originally 
for  manufacturing  purposes  has  been  turned  into  a  lodging 
house.  Twenty-four  beds  were  counted,  there  being  two  and 
sometimes  three  to  a  room.  One  toilet  was  found  on  the  second 
floor  off  the  hall;  it  was  dark,  badly  ventilated,  filthy,  and 
served  the  whole  house.  An  old  fashioned  iron  sink  in  a 
room  on  the  third  floor  supplies  all  the  washing  facilities.  The 
bed  and  bedding  were  filthy,  the  floor  dirty,  and  the  walls  out 
of  repair.  There  was  one  flight  of  stairs  to  each  floor;  and 
the  halls  were  dark  and  narrow.  Occupants  of  fourth  and  fifth 
floors  must  go  to  the  roof  and  cross  to  other  buildings  in  case 
of  fire.  The  chimneys  were  out  of  repair.  A  family  of  seven 
were  found  to  have  paid  seventy-five  cents  a  night  for  the  use 
of  one  room. 

PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE  SEWER  PROVISION. 

Finally,  the  older  part  of  the  city  was  found  well  covered 
by  either  public  or  private  sewers.  The  number  of  private 
sewers  is  relatively  large,  but  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  them 
closely,  since  a  property  owner  may  construct  a  sewer  without 
notifying  the  city  of  his  intention  and  thus  no  record  is  made 
unless  a  petition  is  received  by  the  Board  of  Health  to  con- 
nect with  the  city  sewer.  In  some  instances  where  new 
streets  have  been  laid  through  private  property  for  development 
purposes,  sewers  have  been  laid  by  the  owners  which  have 
not  always  been  of  a  size  sufficient  for  the  territory  which 
would  eventually  be  drained  therein.  When  these  streets  are 
accepted  the  city  then  carries  the  cost  of  repairs. 

In  the  outlying  sections  of  the  city  where  future  growth 
will  naturally  be,  as  manufacturing  interests  develop,  there 
are  already  by  actual  count  343  houses  on  streets  without 
sewers.  In  ward  five,  137  houses  are  located  on  ten  streets 

39 


which  have  no  sewers.  The  dwellings  have  been  put  up  at 
random  and  represent  all  types  of  houses  ranging  from  a 
suburban  cottage  to  brick  tenement  rows.  The  land  is  rolling 
and  beautiful,  with  many  natural  advantages,  and  its  develop- 
ment in  the  next  ten  years  offers  opportunities  for  filling  the 


HOUSING  CONDITIONS  DEBITS 

Study  of  276  Newburgh  families (1357 persons; 
in  neighborhoods  \vheiBUTiskilledworkensmuslseekhonies 

Over  10%  of  the  people  are  boarders 

40%  of  families  have  no  room  for  family  social  life 

95%  are  without  bath  tabs 

36%  live  in  tenements 

64%  of  houses  in  fair  to  bad  repair 

69%  of  families  use  toilets  i  n  common  with  other  families 

39%  of  inside  toilets  not  i  n  good  repai  r 

82%  of  outdoor  toilets  have  privy  vaults 

200  manure  piles  (estimated)  in  densely  populated  districts 

No  fire  escapes  on  tenements 


need  of  unskilled  laborers  for  homes  at  fair  rental.  If  the 
present  illogical  growth  continues  this  section  will  add  to 
Newburgh's  housing  problem,  and  will  together  with  the 
present  city  dump,  make  a  still  more  uninviting  approach  to 
Newburgh  from  the  south. 

RECOMMENDATIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS. 

The  facts  already  cited  make  it  fairly  obvious  that  the  first 
and  most  important  housing  need  in  Newburgh  is  a  housing 
code.  We  should  therefore  recommend  that  some  of  the 
organizations  of  the  city  or  the  city  itself  continue  the  study 
of  housing  conditions  and  gather  information  on  the  best  hous- 
ing methods  adopted  in  other  cities,  to  the  end  that  a  housing 
code  be  secured  either  by  Newburgh  alone  or  in  co-operation 

40 


with  the  other  third  class  cities  of  the  state, — such  a  code  as 
will  conserve  the  good  features  of  the  present  housing  and 
head  off  any  tendencies  that  may  prove  unwholesome.  In  this 
connection  a  phrase  or  two  of  a  recent  letter  from  John  Ihlder, 
field  secretary,  National  Housing  Association,  New  York,  is 
in  point:  "The  charter,  ordinances,  plumbing  code,  sanitary 
regulations,  etc.  of  Newburgh  are  fairly  good,  but  they  do  not 
touch  the  big  phases  of  the  housing  problem  at  all.  What 
Newburgh  needs  is  a  housing  code  which  will  fill  the  gap  left 
by  its  existing  legislation.  It  looks  to  me  like  almost  a  virgin 
field." 

Further  suggestions  which  have  developed  as  the  findings 
have  been  studied,  are : 

I.     The  keeping  by  the  city  of  a  complete  registration  of 
all  property  owners  and  houses,  with  their  assessed  valuation 

HOUSING  CONDITIONS  CREWB 

Study  of  276  Newburgh  families(I357per5ons) 
in  neighborhoods  where  unskilled  workers  mustseek homes. 

"H'Xlivein  one-family  houses 

1 9 7o  1 1 ve  in  two- fam i  1  y  houses 

62%  have  buildings  covering  not  more  than  %  the  lot 

99X/X>have  city  water 

95%  have  opportunities  for  home  gardens 

75 %  of  houses  have  sewer  connections 

Most  of  tenements  are  3-story  or  less 

Cellars 'usually  dry 

Ashes  regularly  collected 

in  order  that  responsibility  may  be  readily  placed,  and  that 
comparison  may  be  drawn  from  year  to  year  in  regard  to  the 
change  of  property,  the  increase  in  improvements  and  growth 
in  building. 

41 


II.  The  placing  of  the  construction  and  inspection  of  all 
sewers,  both  public  and  private,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
city  engineering  department ;  and  placing  the  construction  and 
inspection  of  all  cesspools  and  privy  vaults,  as  well  as  the  con- 
nection of  houses  with  sewers,  and  the  investigation  of  com- 
plaints, under  the  city  health  officer. 

III.  The  changing  from  discretionary  to  mandatory  the 
power  of  the  health  officer  to  order  the  abolition  of  all  privies 
within  a  reasonable  time  on  streets  having  public  sewers ;  also 
the  abolition  of  untrapped  water  closets  and  outdoor  water 
closets  which  freeze  up  or  become  filthy  and  unsanitary. 

IV.  A  yearly  inspection  by  the  Fire  Department  of  all 
tenement  houses  within  city  limits  and  a  record  of  all  such 
houses  filed  by  card  system  in  the  City  Hall.    This  would  supply 
information  on  the  city's  fire  liabilities,  and  should  be  made 
the  basis  for  enforcement  of  proper  laws  for  adequate  fire 
prevention  and  protection. 

V.  An  investigation  of  lodging  house  conditions  with  a 
view  to  regulating  their  sanitary  conditions. 

VI.  The  encouragement  of  home  gardens  through  some 
kind  of  organized   effort;   and  perhaps,   by  the   offering  of 
prizes  and  the  co-operative  distribution  of  penny  packages  of 
seeds  by  private  societies  of  the  city. 

To  these  we  invite  serious  consideration. 


42 


Delinquency 

ZENAS  L.  POTTER. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS,  RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION. 

The  chief  machinery  for  dealing  with  those  who  break  the 
law  in  Newburgh  consists  of:  the  city  lock-up,  the  probation 
system,  the  courts,  and  the  county  jail,  the  latter  being  pro- 
vided through  the  county.  This  report  presents  the  findings 
of  a  quick  study  of  the  work  done  by  these  agencies,  with 
recommendations  based  on  the  findings. 

The  first  contact  of  lawbreakers  with  the  strong  arm  of 
authority  is  usually  through  the  police.  They  must  do  a  very 
large  share  of  the  gathering-in  of  offenders.  In  order,  there- 
fore, that  life  and  property  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  present 
and  future  interests  of  the  suspected  lawbreaker,  on  the  other 
hand,  shall  be  well  protected,  increasing  emphasis  is  being 
placed  both  upon  the  efficient  organization  and  personal  make- 
up of  the  police  department. 

POLICE  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION. 

The  Chief  of  Police  is  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  and  is 
directly  responsible  to  him.  Under  the  Chief  are  two  ser- 
geants, two  roundsmen  and  sixteen  patrolmen,  also  appointed 
by  the  Mayor,  a  proportion  of  one  policeman  to  about  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants.  The  general  standard  set  up  in  police 
circles  is  that  there  should  be  one  policeman  to  every  one  thou- 
sand in  the  population.  This  would  indicate  that  the  New- 
burgh  department  is  under-manned,  a  conclusion  that  is  borne 
out  by  the  opinion  of  the  present  Chief,  and  by  the  Mayor, 
who  recently  recommended  the  addition  of  four  new  patrol- 
men to  the  staff.  The  matter  is  worthy  of  careful 
investigation  by  the  City  Council.  The  salaries  of  patrolmen 
and  roundsmen  are  $90.00  and  $95.00  per  month  respectively. 
The  figures  compare  favorably  with  those  in  many  cities,  some 
of  them  larger  and  more  difficult  to  patrol  than  Newburgh, 
and  the  city  may  be  congratulated  on  being  willing  to  pay 
.enough  to  get  good  men. 

43 


The  Mayor's  appointments  are  from  lists  submitted  by 
the  Civil  Service  Commission.  Standings  are  graded  upon 
written  examinations  and  physical  fitness.  When  promotions 
are  made  past  efficiency  is  also  taken  into  consideration.  In 
these  regards  the  system  is  good. 

The  discipline  of  the  department  is  largely  in  the  hands  of 
the  Mayor  and  the  Chief  of  Police.  Policemen  disobeying 
department  rules  are  subject  to  fine  or  dismissal.  For  minor 
violations  men  are  reprimanded  by  the  Chief.  For  more 
serious  violations  they  may  be  fined  or  dismissed.  Removals 
are  made  by  the  Mayor  after  a  hearing,  and  are  subject  to 
court  review.  Four  fines  have  been  imposed  during  the  past 
year,  the  penalty  ranging  from  ten  to  fifteen  days'  pay,  and  one 
patrolman  was  dismissed  from  the  force. 

The  success  of  such  a  plan  of  appointment,  promotion,  and 
demotion  is  contingent,  however,  upon  the  keeping  of  full 
records  of  the  different  men.  This  is  not  now  done.  Recently, 
for  instance,  when  an  examination  was  held  to  fill  the  position 
of  roundsman,  the  Civil  Service  Commission  requested  such 
records,  and  the  Chief  compiled  the  number  of  arrests  made 
by  each  man  from  the  time  of  his  appointment.  What  would 
have  been  more  valuable,  both  to  the  Commission  and  the 
competent  men,  would  have  been  not  merely  the  record  of 
arrests,  but  a  record  showing  also  arrests  made  without  war- 
rants, classified  according  to  the  character  of  the  crime,  and 
according  to  convictions  and  acquittals.  In  order  to  make  this 
test  fairer  to  the  patrolmen,  however,  the  instruction  section 
of  the  old  book  of  rules  adopted  in  1869  should  be  revised,  in 
order  to  include  subsequent  laws  which  the  police  are  required 
to  enforce. 

A  number  of  cities  have  found  it  wise  to  carry  record 
keeping  still  farther.  They  have  required  daily  written  reports, 
by  patrolmen,  on  conditions  observed  on  their  beats ;  written 
reports  by  roundsmen  on  conditions  on  each  man's  beat,  and 
written  reports  by  roundsmen  as  to  whether  patrolmen  are  on 
duty  according  to  orders.  The  value  of  these  is  obvious.  Al- 
though the  first  of  these  is  required  in  the  Newburgh  Police 
Manual,  only  the  third  has  been  observed. 

44 


A  still  further  means  of  checking  up  patrol  service  is  the 
installation  of  call  boxes  in  different  parts  of  the  beats,  and  the 
requirement  that  patrolmen  ring  in  from  them  at  specified 
times.  Such  boxes  also  serve  for  call  purposes  in  times  of 
-emergency.  The  mayor,  in  his  message,  strongly  recom- 
mended that  such  a  system  be  installed,  and  we  heartily  second 
his  suggestion.  Incidentally  it  may  be  stated  that  the  city  of 
Milwaukee,  which  formerly  had  separate  police  and  fire  alarm 
systems,  has  now  combined  them  at  a  considerable  saving  to 
taxpayers. 

POLICE  DEPARTMENT  ACTIVITIES. 

Some  of  the  department  needs  already  suggested  have 
distinct  bearings  upon  the  character  of  department  activities. 
Several  additional  matters  should  at  least  be  touched  upon. 
One  is  the  absence  of  an  adequate  system  of  identification  of 
prisoners.  The  finger  print  system  is  simple  and  inexpensive. 
The  Bertillon  system  is  now  in  use  in  several  cities  no  larger 
than  Newburgh.  There  are  men  at  police  headquarters  who 
have  plenty  of  time  which  might  be  devoted  to  the  purpose, 
and  who  could  fit  themselves  for  such  work.  It  would  seem 
desirable  that  identification  records  be  kept. 

Again,  the  records  relative  to  law  violations  are  deficient. 
Although  a  ledger  is  kept  at  headquarters  showing  the  name, 
age,  sex,  color,  occupation,  and  birthplace  of  each  prisoner, 
name  of  the  officer  making  the  arrest,  names  of  witnesses  and 
complainants,  character  of  the  offense,  disposition  of  the  case, 
and  articles  found  on  the  prisoners,  that  part  of  the  Police 
Manual  is  not  complied  with  which  requires  a  record  of  the 
places  and  circumstances  of  all  larcenies,  burglaries,  and 
other  offenses,  a  record  of  suspicious  places  and  persons,  and 
the  amount  and  disposition  of  all  stolen  properties. 

The  line  of  division  between  the  parts  of  the  record  kept 
and  that  not  kept  is  rather  suggestive  of  the  kind  of  work 
which  has  received  most  attention  by  American  police  depart- 
ments. They  have  been  working  chiefly  for  cure  rather  than 
prevention;  they  have  given  but  little  attention  to  the  causes 
of  crime,  assuming  that  their  duty  begins  when  a  criminal  act 
takes  place.  Probably  no  agency  of  government  is  in  a  position 

45 


to  do  more  in  blotting  out  the  causes  of  criminality  and  depend- 
ency through  co-operation  with  the  schools,  churches,  charitable 
agencies,  playground  directors,  probation  officers,  and  other 
organizations  and  individuals,  and  it  is  one  of  the  serious  mis- 
takes of  city  government  that  such  functions  have  not  been 
considered  a  prime  purpose  of  every  law  enforcing  agency. 

THE  CITY  LOCK-UP. 

The  city  lock-up  is  both  a  detention  place  for  persons 
under  arrest  and  a  lodging  house.  It  contains  five  cells,  three 
for  men  and  two  for  women.  In  addition  there  is  a  large  down- 
stairs cell  which  will  accommodate  six  or  eight  men,  used  for 
lodgers,  and  also  an  upstairs  room  of  about  the  same  size, 
where  children  are  kept.  The  latter  is  also  used  for  lodgers, 
when  there  are  no  children. 

The  lock-up,  when  visited,  was  in  a  clean  and  sanitary 
condition,  and  bore  evidences  of  watchful  care.  The  walls 
upstairs  had  been  quite  recently  painted.  A  new  coat  of  paint 
downstairs  would  further  improve  its  sanitary  condition. 

The  women's  cells  and  the  large  cell  upstairs  have  windows 
opening  to  the  outside  air,  and  the  light  and  ventilation  are 
excellent.  The  plan  of  these  cells  is  good,  they  being  separate 
from  one  another,  and  from  those  where  the  men  are  kept. 
The  men's  cells  have  no  window  opening  to  the  outside  air. 
The  only  ventilation  comes  from  a  door,  which  is  probably 
closed  in  the  winter,  and  a  window  half-way  upstairs  at  the 
farthest  end  of  the  room  from  the  cells.  When  this  room  is 
filled  with  prisoners  and  lodgers  the  air  must  be  decidedly 
unwholesome.  We  would  recommend  that  the  Police  Depart- 
ment consider  the  advisability  of  putting  in  barred  windows  at 
the  back  of  the  cells  through  which  light  and  ventilation  may 
be  secured.  No  bedding  is  provided  in  any  part  of  the  lock-up 
all  prisoners  being  required  to  sleep  on  bare  wooden  shelves. 
This  is  in  keeping  with  the  old  idea  that  the  sole  purpose  of 
jails  and  penitentiaries  is  to  punish  prisoners,  not  to  reform 
them.  The  State  Prison  Commission  is  continually  recommend- 
ing adequate  bedding  in  city  lock-ups,  but  has  made  no  inspec- 
tion of  the  Newburgh  lock-up  in  recent  years.  In  1911  the 
Commission  reported  conditions  in  eighty-eight  city  lock-ups. 

46 


Sixty-nine  or  seventy-eight  per  cent,  provided  bedding,  so  that 
Newburgh  stands  with  the  negligent  minority  in  this  regard. 
We  would  recommend  that  some  kind  of  cheap  washable  bed- 
ding be  provided  for  all  prisoners.  Suggestions  along  this 
line  may  be  had  at  the  County  Jail  in  Newburgh. 

Last  year  thirty-five  women  were  held  over  night  in  the 
lock-up  under  the  care  of  male  keepers,  for  no  matron  is 
employed.  This  practice  is  condemned  by  penal  authorities. 
The  number  of  women  is  not  great  and  the  occasional  expense 
for  a  matron's  services  would  be  light. 

In  1912,  counting  each  lodger  each  night  as  a  separate 
lodger,  there  were  1,720  at  the  lock-up.  This,  of  course,  does 
not  represent  1,720  different  men,  for  many  stayed  there  a 
number  of  nights.  One  man  stayed  as  many  as  forty-nine 
nights.  The  majority  of  these  men  who  thus  secure  free 
lodging  from  the  city  are  right  at  the  height  of  vigorous  man- 
hood, three-quarters  being  between  twenty-one  and  fifty  years 
of  age. 

The  need  of  a  lodging  place  where  penniless  and  homeless 
men  may  be  kept  over  night  is  widely  recognized,  and  in  the 
absence  of  something  better,  the  lock-up  offers  reasonably  good 
accommodations.  Lodgers  should,  however,  according  to  the 
Prison  Commission's  standard,  be  kept  as  far  as  possible  from 
prisoners.  Furthermore  they  should  not  be  kept  indefinitely, 
and  they  should  be  required  to  do  some  work  in  payment  for 
their  lodging.  We  should  recommend  that  the  Police  Depart- 
ment investigate  the  possibilities  of  a  wood  yard,  or  similar 
work  by  which  lodgers  might  pay  for  their  keep.  The  import- 
ant thing  of  course  is  not  so  much  to  make  money  as  it  is  to 
furnish  lodgers  with  work  in  order  to  prevent  their  becoming 
idlers  with  the  co-operation  of  the  city.  Such  a  work  require- 
ment at  the  lock-up  would  undoubtedly  make  Newburgh  less 
popular  with  unworthy  tramps. 

Twenty-five  minors  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  twelve 
of  them  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  were  brought 
into  court  in  1912  and  appear  upon  the  police  records. 
Just  how  many  of  these  children  were  detained  over 
night  in  the  lock-up  the  records  do  not  show,  but  the 
number  is  not  large;  for  it  is  the  enlightened  policy  of  the 

47 


authorities  to  let  children  go  home,  when  possible,  upon  the 
promise  of  parents  to  produce  them  in  court  when  needed. 
Occasionally,  however,  children  get  into  court  who  have  no 
home  and  have  to  be  detained  over  night  in  the  lock-up.  The 
police  department  has  at  its  disposal  several  large  rooms  in  a 
part  of  the  municipal  building  away  from  the  lock-up.  In  the 
absence  of  a  better  place,  it  seems  desirable  that  one  of  these 
rooms  be  fitted  up  for  children,  since  their  detention  in  lock- 
ups is  very  generally  condemned. 

THE  COUNTY  JAIL. 

Orange  County  provides  two  county  jails,  one  at  New- 
burgh,  and  one  at  Goshen.  Most  of  Newburgh's  short  time 
and  some  of  her  longer  time  prisoners  are  confined  in  the 
Newburgh  jail,  which  is  located  in  the  rear  of  the  court  house. 
The  jail  is  a  model  of  cleanliness.  From  the  top  tier  of  cells 
to  the  basement  it  fairly  shines  with  scrubbing  and  fresh  paint. 
For  this  the  management  deserves  commendation. 

In  the  jail  are  thirty-six  separate  cells,  most  of  which 
accommodate  one  prisoner  each.  They  are  arranged  in  two 
double  tiers,  divided  by  a  hallway.  One  side  of  the  top  tiers, 
which  is  partitioned  off  from  the  rest  of  the  jail  and  offers 
considerable  privacy,  is  used  for  females  exclusively.  The 
other  top  row  is  used  for  boys.  Each  cell  is  provided  with  a 
flush  toilet  in  good  condition  and  at  the  end  of  each  row  of 
eight  cells  is  a  shower  bath.  None  of  the  cells  have  windows 
opening  to  the  outside  air  but  all  face  large  windows  which 
run  to  the  top  of  the  ceiling,  and  light  and  ventilation  seem 
good.  Each  prisoner  is  provided  with  a  cotton  mattress  with 
a  removable  cover,  and  a  woolen  blanket.  The  beds  look  com- 
fortable and  the  bedding  is  changed  once  a  week. 

Each  prisoner  is  provided  with  outer  clothing,  and  a  clean 
suit  of  underwear  when  he  enters  the  jail.  Formerly,  prison- 
ers received  suits  of  dark  gray,  but  at  present  prison  stripes 
are  provided.  Most  penal  authorities  condemn  the  use  of 
stripes,  and  it  is  disappointing  to  find  the  authorities  here 
adopting  what  is  elsewhere  given  up. 

It  is  explained  that  some  prisoners  work  around  the 
court  house  and  its  grounds,  and  stripes  are  a  precautionary 

48 


measure  to  prevent  their  escape.  In  this  day  of  organized 
police  and  detective  service  this  plea  is  not  convincing.  If 
emphasis  is  to  be  put  upon  the  regeneration  of  prisoners, 
instead  of  their  humiliation,  prison  stripes  will  be  abolished. 

Only  eighteen  women  were  detained  at  the  Newburgh  jail 
in  1912,  and  they  were  kept  there  but  a  short  time.  Twelve 
stayed  one  night,  five  two  nights  and  one  three  nights.  There 
is  no  matron  at  the  jail,  but  it  is  the  policy  of  the  authorities 
to  send  all  women,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  Goshen,  where  a 
matron  is  employed. 

Section  486  of  the  Penal  Law  prohibits  the  placing  of 
children  in  any  place  of  confinement  with  adults  convicted  of 
crime.  In  1912  ten  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  all 
boys,  were  detained  at  the  Newburgh  jail.  They  were  kept 
apart  from  the  adults  in  the  top  row  of  cells,  but  in  the  same 
room,  where  there  is  all  the  atmosphere  of  the  jail,  and  where 
the  conversation  of  other  prisoners  reaches  them.  Most  of 
the  children  were  detained  awaiting  transportation  to  the 
reformatory.  One  was  kept  thirty  days  as  a  witness,  one 
twenty-two  days  for  being  a  truant.  These  children  now 
detained  at  the  county  jail  form  an  additional  reason  for  the 
recommendation  that  rooms  be  fitted  up  elsewhere  for  the 
detention  of  children. 

The  great  lack  of  the  Newburgh  jail  does  not  consist  in 
a  failure  to  provide  proper  physical  comforts  for  the  prisoners, 
for  in  this  it  reaches  a  high  standard.  It  fails  in  providing 
reformatory  influences.  No  religious  services  are  held  and 
the  authorities  have  discouraged  the  holding  of  other  meetings. 
They  have,  however,  welcomed  individual  work  among  the 
prisoners  and  some  ministers  from  time  to  time  call  for  that 
purpose.  Moreover,  the  jail  has  no  library,  this  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  a  library  of  fifty  volumes  was  offered  to  the 
authorities  free  by  the  New  York  Prison  Association,  on  last 
March  5th,  and  to  date  has  not  been  accepted.  Apparently 
those  in  charge  have  not  seen  the  value  of  surrounding 
prisoners  with  any  uplifting  influences. 

Perhaps  the  most  serious  lack  in  the  way  of  reformative 
influences  is  the  absence  of  work  for  prisoners.  Aside 
from  the  few  who  work  about  the  court  house  and  its  grounds 

49 


the  prisoners  are  idle  and  spend  most  of  their  time  lying 
around  their  cells  and  playing  cards.  Were  prisoners  detained 
not  more  than  ten  days  the  necessity  for  some  kind  of  manual 
labor  would  not  be  so  great ;  but  last  year  163  prisoners  were 
detained  more  than  ten  days,  101  twenty  days  or  more,  72 
thirty  days  or  more,  22  for  sixty  days  or  more.  One  man  was 
detained  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  days,  and  one  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  days.  To  spend  such  periods  in  almost 
pure  idleness  certainly  does  not  fit  a  man  to  take  up  regular 
duties  of  life  upon  his  release.  The  sheriff  in  charge  himself 
realizes  what  is  happening  and  agrees  that  instead  of  being 
helped  to  their  feet,  the  prisoners  are  likely  to  leave  the  institu- 
tion a  little  worse  than  they  entered.  To  say  the  least  it  is  poor 
community  economy  to  allow  a  condition  which  furthers  crimi- 
nality, instead  of  correcting  it,  to  continue. 

Unfortunately,  no  great  improvement  in  this  regard  can 
be  made  as  long  as  the  jail  is  in  the  rear  of  the  court  house. 
There  is  no  possibility  of  providing  proper  work  for  prisoners, 
and  although  the  jail  is  commendable  as  a  place  of  detention, 
we  seriously  raise  the  question  of  the  desirability  of  its  aban- 
donment and  the  transfer  of  all  prisoners  to  Goshen.  At 
Goshen  the  jail  has  recently  been  reconstructed.  There  are 
seventy-four  cells,  with  provisions  for  148  prisoners.  At 
present  there  are  but  thirty  detained  there,  and  not  over  fifteen 
were  in  the  Newburgh  jail  when  it  was  visited.  While  the 
aqueduct  was  being  built  the  number  of  prisoners  in  both  jails 
was  increased,  but  it  seems  doubtful  that  there  will  be  more 
prisoners  in  both  jails  in  the  near  future  than  can  be  accommo- 
dated at  Goshen.  At  Goshen  work  in  a  stone  crushing  shed 
is  provided,  and  although  breaking  rock  is  not  the  best  kind 
of  work  for  prisoners,  it  is  infinitely  better  than  idleness.  If 
possible,  however,  more  suitable  work,  as  farm  work — used 
in  Oswego  County — might  be  provided.  Only  four  of  the 
fifty-three  counties  in  New  York  State,  one  of  them  Orange 
County,  maintains  two  separate  jails,  and  one  of  the  four  does 
so  to  give  prisoners  a  chance  to  work  on  the  roads. 

A  careful  study  of  this  matter  would  probably  show  a 
saving  in  money  by  this  transfer.  The  cost  in  salaries  of 
persons  connected  with  the  Newburgh  jail  is  $6,200  per  year, 

50 


leaving  out  of  consideration  the  caterer  at  $5  per  week.  Not 
all  of  this  amount  could  be  saved  by  the  abandonment  of  the 
jail,  for  criminal  work  in  this  part  of  the  county  would  still 
need  attention,  but  certainly  a  considerable  amount  might  be 
saved. 

CHILDREN'S  CASES. 

When  brought  up  for  trial  in  Newburgh  children  are  kept 
entirely  apart  from  the  atmosphere  of  the  court  room,  an 
enlightened  practice  instituted  by  the  present  Recorder.  Most 
hearings  are  held  in  his  private  office.  It  is  also  his  policy  to 
keep  the  children's  docket  entirely  separate  from  the  police 
docket.  The  names  of  twelve  children  under  sixteen  years 
of  age  were  entered  upon  the  police  docket  last  year,  a 
practice  which  should  be  discontinued. 

Full  details  of  juvenile  crimes  are  published  in  the  news- 
papers. The  result  is  that  children  too  young  to  be  responsi- 
ble for  their  acts,  and  who  need  every  opportunity  to  over- 
come the  stigma  of  being  arrested,  are  still  further  handi- 
capped by  the  general  publicity  of  their  entanglements.  The 
court  records  contain  the  following  statement  in  the  case  of  a 
boy  of  fifteen  years,  "the  mother  said  she  could  not  secure  work 
for  him  because  he  was  known  to  have  been  arrested."  Un- 
doubtedly in  this  sentence  is  summed  up  the  story  of  many 
children  who  have  suffered  because  of  the  publication  of  the 
misfortune.  The  press  in  many  cities,  upon  request  of  the 
authorities,  has  agreed  not  to  publish  anything  regarding 
juvenile  crime.  The  loss  to  the  papers  is  small,  but  the  gain 
to  a  few  children  can  hardly  be  estimated. 

PROBATION. 

Neither  Newburgh  nor  Orange  County  has  a  paid  proba- 
tion officer.  The  Recorder  finds  time  to  act  as  probation 
officer  for  about  a  dozen  men  on  suspended  sentence  for  non- 
support;  and  probation  has  been  quite  extensively  used  in 
children's  cases,  through  the  services  of  a  volunteer  officer. 
There  are,  however,  great  opportunities  for  progress  in  this 
field.  Adult  probation  has  hardly  been  touched,  and  the  char- 
acter of  juvenile  probation  has  not  been  altogether  satisfac- 
tory. 

51 


One  of  the  most  valuable  services  a  probation  officer  can 
perform  is  the  investigation  of  children's  cases  before  they 
come  up  in  court  for  the  purpose  of  laying  before  the  Recorder 
all  the  essential  facts  regarding  the  children's  families  and 
surroundings  so  as  to  permit  him  to  deal  intelligently  with 
each  case.  This  need  has  been  met  to  some  extent  in  New- 
burgh  through  the  Recorder's  acquaintance  with  local  con- 
ditions and  people  and  through  the  police  after  probation 
begins.  It  is  also  desirable  that  the  probation  officer  be  present 
when  cases  are  tried,  so  that  he  or  she  may  be  familiar  with  the 


PROBATION  A  BETTER  INVESTMENT 
THAN  JAILS 

THESE  CITIES  HAVE  PAID  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

Amsterdam      Mt.Vernon 
Jl  ubixrn  Poughkeepsie 

Kingston         Water  town 

THESE  CITIES  HAVE  NOT 

Newbu r£h       Niagara  Falls 
New  Rochelle    damestown 


case  and  know  how  to  deal  with  the  children  later.  Often  in 
Newburgh  the  probation  officer  has  not  been  present  when 
cases  were  tried,  and  has  first  learned  of  children  being  placed 
on  probation  from  the  children  themselves. 

Not  only  has  organization  of  juvenile  probation  work 
been  unsatisfactory,  but  the  work  of  volunteer  officers  in 
the  past  has  not  been  efficient.  A  single  instance  will  serve 
as  an  illustration.  A  year  ago  last  spring  a  mother  brought 
her  daughter  into  the  Police  Station  complaining  that  she 
was  getting  wild  and  staying  out  late  nights  and  upon  her 

52 


request  the  girl,  then  fifteen  years  of  age,  was  placed  on 
probation.  She  was  ordered  to  report  to  the  officer  once  a 
week.  Late  in  the  fall,  upon  the  mother's  complaint,  the 
girl  was  arrested  and  brought  into  court.  She  had  driven  out 
to  a  roadhouse  with  another  girl  and  two  men  and  stayed  all 
night.  It  appears  upon  the  court  record  that  the  probation 
officer  was  present  and  testified  that  she  "did  not  consider 
it  a  good  case  of  probation"  for  the  girl  had  been  ordered 
to  report  weekly  but  had  only  reported  twice. 

It  certainly  did  the  girl  no  good  to  be  placed  on  proba- 
tion, if,  when  she  failed  to  report  as  ordered,  she  was  not 
followed  up.  Its  only  effect  must  have  been  to  create  dis- 
respect even  for  the  authority  of  an  officer  of  the  law.  It 
cannot  be  proved  of  course,  but  it  is  conceivable  that  if  she 
had  been  followed  up  by  a  woman  who  showed  sympathetic 
interest  in  her  and  at  the  same  time  gave  her  to  understand 
that  she  was  under  an  authority  which  would  enforce  its 
demands,  she  might  have  been  saved.  Good  probation  often 
accomplishes  wonderful  results :  bad  probation  is  worse  than 
none. 

Young  girls,  however,  are  not  the  only  persons  who  may 
profit  by  more  efficient  probation  work.  Of  the  14,687  persons 
placed  on  probation  in  New  York  State  last  year,  but  four  per 
cent,  were  girls,  twenty-six  per  cent,  were  boys,  twelve  per 
cent,  women  and  fifty-seven  per  cent.  men.  Newburgh  has  no 
probation  work  with  women  and  almost  none  with  men.  It  is 
estimated  that  seventy-nine  per  cent,  of  the  persons  placed 
on  probation  in  New  York  State  last  year,  improved  in  their 
conduct.  The  Newburgh  Recorder  gives  many  persons  who 
are  brought  into  court  a  chance  to  mend  their  ways  by  placing 
them  under  suspended  sentence.  Thirty-one  per  cent,  of  the 
526  persons  brought  into  court  last  year  were  thus  placed. 
Undoubtedly  the  number  could  be  increased  if  there  were  a 
full  time  probation  officer  provided,  to  whom  reports  would 
be  made  once  a  week,  and  who  would  follow  up  reports  by 
friendly  visits  and  advice. 

Experience  has  demonstrated  the  superiority  of  paid 
probation  work  over  volunteer  work.  Of  the  ten  New  York 
State  cities  of  approximately  Newburgh's  size,  six — Mount 

53 


Vernon,  Amsterdam,  Poughkeepsie,  Kingston  and  Watertown 
— provide  paid  probation  officers. 

Under  present  conditions  it  would  seem  most  desirable 
to  secure  a  male  officer,  for  much  work  is  needed  among  men 
and  boys.  As  large  a  salary  as  possible  up  to  $1,000  should 
be  allowed,  for  a  man  is  needed  whose  personality  is  such  that 
he  could  impress  those  under  his  charge.  The  day  has  gone 
by  when  we  employ  those  who  have  not  themselves  made  a 
success  of  life  to  care  for  those  who  have  made  a  failure. 
The  women  and  girls  might  be  handled  by  the  paid  agent  of  the 
State  Charities  Aid  Association,  whose  work  is  along  much 
the  same  lines,  or  divided  between  her  and  the  secretary  of  the 
Associated  Charities. 

It  will  be  noted  that  throughout  this  report  we  have 
laid  stress  upon  the  need  of  placing  emphasis  upon  the 
reformation  of  prisoners  rather  than  their  humiliation  and 
degradation.  Except  in  minor  suggestions  for  improving 
efficiency  in  the  police  department,  every  recommendation 
rests  upon  this  principle.  To  this  end  a  recommendation  is 
made  that  the  lock-up  facilities  be  improved,  a  matron  be 
provided,  children  be  removed,  and  work  be  furnished  for 
lodgers. 

It  is  suggested  also  that  the  free  library  offered  by  the 
State  Prison  Association  be  accepted  for  the  County  Jail,  that 
religious  services  be  encouraged  there  and  that  such  changes 
be  made  as  will  insure  suitable  work  for  all  county  jail 
prisoners.  To  achieve  this  latter  result  the  abandonment  of 
the  jail  in  Newburgh  may  be  advisable. 

Finally  the  need  of  a  paid  probation  officer  is  placed 
before  the  people  as  probably  the  greatest  need  in  the  chari- 
table or  delinquency  fields. 


54 


Newburgh's  Public  Library 

F.  W.  JENKINS. 
LIBRARIAN,  RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION. 

The  careful  and  critical  examination  of  an  old  institution 
is  not  a  pleasant  task  for  either  the  examiner  or  the  examined. 
The  courtesy  of  the  staff  of  the  Newburgh  Public  Library,  has 
made  this  particular  task  easy,  and  I  regret  that  my  report 
on  conditions  can  not  be  more  commendatory.  I  have  tried 
to  show  the  conditions  as  they  exist  with  their  causes,  and 
suggest  plans  for  their  amelioration. 

The  Newburgh  Public  Library  is  working  under  severe 
handicaps,  the  most  serious  being :  first,  control  of  the  library 
by  the  local  Board  of  Education;  second,  inadequate,  under- 
paid and  overworked  library  staff;  third,  lack  of  space;  and 
fourth,  an  antiquated  system  of  administration. 

CONTROL  BY  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 

The  library  should  be  governed  by  an  independent  board, 
and  not  by  the  Board  of  Education  as  in  Newburgh.  Librarian- 
ship,  like  teaching,  is  a  recognized  profession,  and  the  func- 
tions of  the  two  are  too  widely  divergent  to  make  it  advisable 
to  place  the  schools  and  the  library  under  one  board  of  control. 
Other  local  boards  of  education  have  tried  this  plan  of  directing 
the  public  library  but  always  to  the  detriment  of  the  library. 
Naturally  the  Board  of  Education  is  interested  first  in  the 
schools — the  library  is  of  secondary  importance,  in  some  cases 
a  mere  appendix.  If  the  board  has  any  extra  time  above  the 
claims  of  the  schools,  some  thought  is  then  given  to  the 
library;  if  the  general  appropriation  is  insufficient — and  in 
these  times  of  increasing  demands  for  greater  school  facilities 
it  is  very  likely  to  be  chronically  insufficient — the  library  is 
likely  to  suffer.  Under  such  circumstances  the  local  Board 
of  Education  usually  quiets  its  conscience  with  the  thought 
that  since  school  attendance  is  compulsory  the  schools  should, 

55 


therefore,  be  given  first  consideration ;  and  that  since  the 
library,  on  the  other  hand,  offers  only  optional  education, 
the  latter  must  get  along  with  what  is  left.  But  the  argument 
is  fallacious.  The  library  has  just  as  definite  and  real  a  place 
in  the  educational  scheme  of  the  community  as  has  the  school. 
Moreover,  if  the  correlation  between  the  schools  and  the 
library  is  what  it  ought  to  be — as  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  for  in- 
stance— the  library  will  be  a  great  aid  toward  improved  work 
in  the  school.  This  correlation,  however,  can  be  secured  as 
well  or  better  by  independent  action. 

Evidences  of  the  unwisdom  of  this  plan  of  a  double- 
functioning  board  are  easily  found  in  Newburgh.  For  instance, 
funds  for  the  purchase  of  books  come  from  the  tuition  of  stu- 
dents in  the  Academy.  This  is  indefinite  and  makes  planning 
ahead  difficult.  The  library  should  have  a  definite  appropriation 
just  as  the  schools  have.  Again,  the  library  has  no  space  for 
at  least  six  important  pieces  of  work  which  every  library  should 
perform,  and  yet  the  Board  of  Education  takes  for  its  own 
use  a  large  room  in  the  library  building.  There  is  no  children's 
room,  no  reference  room  worth  mentioning,  no  documents 
room,  no  periodical  room, — yet  the  Board  of  Education  claims 
this  large  room  for  use  only  twelve  times  a  year.  My  first 
recommendation  is,  therefore,  the  permanent  separation  of  the 
library  from  the  Board  of  Education.  Of  New  York  State 
cities  with  25,000  or  more  inhabitants  only  Mt.  Vernon  and 
Newburgh  have  the  library  under  the  management  of  the 
school  board. 

QUALIFICATIONS  OF  BOARD  MEMBERS. 

As  a  general  proposition  it  may  be  said  without  hesitancy 
that  a  board  made  up  almost  entirely  of  men  with  only  a  local 
and  limited  education  is  not  suitable  or  competent  to  direct  a 
city  library  efficiently.  If  the  library  is  in  reality  to  be  a 
people's  university,  aimed  to  exert  a  broadening  influence  upon 
the  community,  its  directors  should  have  some  acquaintance 
with  the  fields  of  science,  art,  religion  and  history.  The 
selection  of  books  in  the  Newburgh  Library  for  recent  years, 
does  not  show  such  acquaintance  by  the  board. 

56 


THE  STAFF. 

Whether  the  conditions  under  which  library  work  is  per- 
formed are  entirely  due  to  the  Board  of  Education  I  cannot 
say ;  however,  the  Board  has  certainly  tolerated  some  of  these 
conditions  for  many  years.  The  library  has  a  commendable 
circulation  of  about  75,000  volumes  per  year,  although  it  is 
not  as  high  as  formerly.  Three  persons — a  librarian,  paid 
$1200  annually,  and  two  assistants  paid  $800  and  $600  respec- 
tively do  all  the  work.  The  librarian  and  first  assistant  have 


THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

NECESSITIES 

Management  independent  of  School  Board 
New  Building 

Re-classification  and  re-cataloguing 
Two  additional  assistants 
Adequate  salaries  for  employees 
Annual  expenditunefor  5years-  '8,000.00 


been  in  the  employ  of  this  library  for  twenty-five  years. 
Whether  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Board  to  employ  low  grade 
workers  at  low  salaries,  or  high  grade  workers  at  low  salaries, 
it  is  certain  that  the  library  is  not  paying  salaries  comparable 
with  other  similar  institutions. 

Moreover,  the  assistants  work  fifty  hours  per  week  and 
upwards.  The  New  York  Public  Library  and  other  public 
libraries,  after  careful  investigation,  have  decided  that  forty 
hours  per  week  is  all  that  should  be  expected.  Certainly  no 
human  being  can  give  high  grade  library  service  for  any  length 

57 


of  time,  and  work  the  number  of  hours  required  in  Newburgh. 
As  I  have  said,  the  circulation  is  commendable,  but  the  library 
is  reaching  only  a  part  of  those  it  ought  to  reach.  At  least 
two  more  adults  should  be  added  to  the  staff,  and  still  others 
as  the  work  demands.  My  second  recommendation  is  the 
careful  consideration  of  the  whole  problem  of  staff  efficiency. 
I  suggest  the  following  schedule  of  salaries  for  present  needs : 

Librarian   $  1,800 

Assistant  Librarian 1,100 

Cataloguer  800 

Children's  Librarian goo 

Assistant  at  desk 500 

$5,100 
LACK  OF  SPACE. 

The  library  is  overcrowded  and  a  new  building  should 
be  secured  as  soon  as  possible.  No  amount  of  enlarging  and 
improving  could  make  the  present  building  adequate  or  adapt- 
able to  the  purpose.  The  Board  of  Education  should  give  up 
its  space  at  once,  and  the  room  should  be  used  for  a  children's 
room,  periodical  reading  room,  reference  room,  teachers'  room, 
document  room,  or  for  any  other  real  need. 

There  is  a  small  room  in  the  building  next  door  occupied 
by  the  local  historical  society  which  has  a  limited,  but  valuable 
collection.  The  library  should  co-operate  with  this  society, 
furnishing  space  and  working  with  it  in  developing  a  rich 
collection  on  historical  subjects,  especially  local  history.  The 
splendid  traditions  of  Newburgh  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in 
the  development  of  the  library. 

The  industries  of  the  city  demand  recognition  in  the  way 
of  a  technical  collection  for  its  workers.  A  start  has  been 
made  in  the  patent  reports  and  they  are  much  used  even 
though  at  present  under  great  difficulties. 

A  teachers'  room  is  needed.  A  few  shelves  of  unarranged 
and,  for  the  most  part,  out  of  date  material  on  pedagogy  is  now 
set  aside  for  teachers.  No  tables  are  provided,  and  small 
opportunity  is  given  for  the  use  of  the  books.  In  its  present 
form  the  collection  is  of  little  value. 

58 


If  the  children  of  Newburgh  prefer  the  moving  picture 
shows  to  the  library,  the  city  fathers  may  be  held  responsible 
to  the  extent  that  they  have  not  provided  a  children's  reading 
room.  Little  children  may  be  seen  daily  in  the  library  sitting 
in  chairs  designed  for  their  elders  trying  to  read  at  tables  on 
a  level  with  their  chins.  The  library  is  doing  little  for  this 
important  class  of  readers. 

No  adequate  reading  room  or  reference  room  is  provided ; 
present  facilities  are  too  limited  to  claim  other  comment.  New- 
burgh  has  30,000  inhabitants.  Accommodations  for  less  than 
fifty  adult  readers  are  provided  at  the  library — none  for  chil- 
dren. Until  the  new  building  could  be  secured,  the  library 
should  make  the  most  of  present  conditions.  I  should  suggest, 
along  this  line,  not  only  the  use  of  space  now  occupied  by  the 
Board  of  Education  but  the  removal  of  one  of  the  large 
desks — preferably  the  one  at  the  left  as  one  enters  the  library 
— and  the  placing  there  of  additional  tables.  Other  needs  could 
be  met  in  rooms  outside  the  main  building  if  fitted  up  for  the 
purpose.  These  collections — thus  brought  together — in  the 
children's  room,  technical  library,  reference  room,  etc.  could 
be  housed  later  in  one  central  building,  while  the  rooms 
vacated  by  this  removal  might  be  used  for  branches  of  the 
main  library  if  the  work  demanded. 

LIBRARY  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  library  is  not  classified,  and  the  books  are  arranged 
on  the  shelves  in  the  order  received,  beginning  always  with  the 
bottom  shelf,  and  filling  a  section  from  the  bottom  up.  The 
only  cataloguing  done  is,  author,  title,  and  subject  cards,  on 
which  is  put  the  accession  number.  The  books  are  then  arranged 
on  the  shelf  with  no  consideration  of  class  or  contents.  A 
book  of  travel  may  be  followed  by  a  work  on  medicine,  and 
that  in  turn  by  a  collection  of  essays.  The  public  can,  there- 
fore, neither  use  the  shelves,  nor  see  what  the  library  has  on 
a  given  subject  except  by  a  most  laborious  process.  To  find 
the  books  on  a  subject  one  must  get  the  accession  numbers  from 
the  card  index,  and  then  find  the  books — some  are  in  the 
gallery,  some  in  one  place,  some  in  another.  It  would  take  all 
day  to  get  together  the  books  on  certain  subjects,  which  the 

59 


ordinary  library  by  its  classification,  brings  together  in  one 
place.  Think  also  of  the  time  required  to  put  all  these  books 
away  after  they  have  been  consulted.  Until  the  library  is 
classified  and  recatalogued,  the  city  of  Newburgh  has  no 
way  of  knowing  the  value  of  its  collection.  It  is  also  impossible 
to  build  up  certain  collections  in  which  the  city's  interests 
should  be  strong.  This  condition  makes  all  administrative 
systems  slow,  cumbersome  and  inaccurate ;  makes  impossible 
an  up-to-date  library,  doing  a  piece  of  up-to-date  efficient  work, 
I  should  therefore  recommend  the  immediate  extra  appropria- 
tion of  $2,000  annually  for  the  next  five  years  for  the  recata- 
loguing  of  the  library. 

This  may  seem  a  large  amount,  but  it  is  relatively  small 
compared  with  the  amount  spent  recently  on  out-of-date,  dust 
catching  book  shelves,  which  could  not  be  used  in  a  new  build- 
ing. Hundreds  of  dollars  were  spent  on  worse  than  useless 
equipment,  simply  that  the  wood  of  the  new  shelving,  black 
walnut,  might  be  like  the  wood  of  the  old,  which  will  of  neces- 
sity soon  be  given  up.  The  library  with  an  independent  board, 
could  certainly  show  better  judgment  in  the  expenditure  of  the 
city's  money  than  has  been  done  in  the  past.  I  would  make  as 
my  fourth  recommendation,  an  annual  appropriation  of  $10,000 
for  the  next  five  years, — $8,000  for  the  running  expenses  of 
the  library  and  $2,000  for  the  recataloguing.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  the  public  library  will  have  justified  the  expense, 
will  be  a  credit  to  the  community,  and  a  great  educational 
asset  to  the  city  of  Newburgh. 


60 


Recreation  Opportunities 

ZENAS  L.  POTTER. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS,  RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION. 

Newburgh  is  endowed  with  unusual  recreation  possi- 
bilities. Nature  has  been  liberal  in  her  allotment  of  scenic 
variety, — in  river,  mountains,  hills  and  trees, — that  in  them- 
selves have  value  in  refreshing  and  re-creating  where  the 
stresses  of  daily  routine  have  tended  to  tear  down.  Some  of 
the  recreation  possibilities  bound  up  in  these  natural  gifts 
are  taken  advantage  of;  some  not.  In  the  matter  of  parks, 
for  instance,  these  natural  assets  have  meant  much.  Situated 
on  the  topmost  part  of  the  hill  on  which  the  city  is  built, 
with  a  wide  angle  of  river  view  and  mountain  view,  Newburgh 
has  an  unusually  beautiful  scenic  park,  where  flower  bed  and 
shrubbery  vie  with  each  other  to  please  the  visitor.  Moreover 
Washington's  Headquarters  is  not  only  a  historic  spot  of 
national  interest,  but  also  a  refreshing  breathing  space  for  the 
adjacent  parts  of  the  city.  Both  of  these  places  are  kept  up 
splendidly,  and  are  civic  assets  which,  though  they  cannot  be 
estimated  in  dollars  and  cents,  yield  valuable  dividends  to  the 
community.  Moreover,  the  band  concerts  in  Downing  Park 
during  the  summer  add  to  its  attractiveness  and  pleasure  giving 
powers,  and  at  the  same  time  show  a  commendable  purpose 
to  help  citizens  get  the  most  from  their  park  facilities.  The 
installation  of  children's  play  apparatus  and  a  few  swings 
back  of  the  hill  and  north  of  the  lake  might  still  further  serve 
this  purpose.  It  is  also  very  desirable  to  have  the  park  better 
lighted  at  night. 

PLAYGROUNDS. 

As  to  playgrounds  Newburgh  is  not  so  fortunate,  particu- 
larly in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  city  has  an  unusual  recreation 
problem  for  a  place  of  only  30,000  people.  In  a  large  part 
of  the  city  the  lots  are  only  25  feet  wide  and  are  built  upon 

61 


from  lot  line  to  lot  line,  often  flush  also  with  the  front  side- 
walk, thus  allowing  practically  no  front  yard  spaces,  and  no 
method  of  reaching  back  yards  except  through  the  houses 
themselves.  The  result  is  that  children  who  meet  on  the 
street  stay  there  for  play  instead  of  using  what  yards  there 
are.  The  process  of  building  the  city  upon  a  steep  hillside 
contributed  toward  congestion ;  and  in  some  districts  one  may 
walk  for  many  blocks  without  finding  a  vacant  lot.  This,  too, 
has  tended  to  keep  children  upon  the  streets  and  sidewalks 
for  their  play.  A  walk  through  Mill  or  Ann  streets  on 
almost  any  Saturday  would  be  both  instructive  and  illustrative 
of  the  extent  of  some  of  Newburgh's  problems  in  providing 
children  with  proper  places  for  play.  On  one  such  walk 
through  this  section  the  writer  took  note  of  where  children 
were  to  be  seen  and  what  they  were  doing.  Five  hundred  and 
ninety-one  children  were  counted.  Of  these  seventy-five  were 
working,  some  washing  windows,  some  delivering  washing  for 
parents,  and  some  were  on  delivery  wagons.  Of  the  remaining 
516,  226  were  engaged  in  some  active  play,  while  290,  con- 
siderably more  than  half,  were  apparently  idling  the  time, 
sitting,  standing  or  walking  about  the  streets,  doing 
nothing  in  particular.  Play,  of  course,  may  be  justified  on 
other  grounds  than  entertainment  and  the  occupying  of  chil- 
dren's time,  and  in  the  light  of  the  educational  and  physical 
value  of  well-directed  play,  this  is  a  more  important  matter 
than  might  at  first  be  imagined. 

As  to  the  play  spaces  used,  385,  or  three-fourths  of  the 
516  children  not  working,  were  on  the  streets;  twenty-four 
were  in  yards;  and  107  were  in  vacant  lots.  Of  the  385  who 
were  on  the  street,  only  104,  or  twenty-seven  per  cent,  were 
engaged  in  active  play,  while  over  sixty  per  cent,  of  the 
twenty-four  children  in  yards  and  all  of  the  107  children  in 
the  vacant  lots  were  found  in  active  play.  Turning  the  state- 
ment around,  of  the  290  children,  mentioned  in  the  previous 
paragraph,  who  were  found  doing  nothing,  all  except  nine 
were  on  the  streets.  The  suggestion,  backed  up  by  the  findings 
of  more  extended  studies  of  play  needs  under  fairly  similar 
circumstances,  is  that  the  streets  are  no  where  near  as  usable 
for  nor  conducive  to  play  as  vacant  spaces  even  when  unsuper- 

62 


vised;  and  further  the  indication  is  that  a  rich  opportunity  is 
being  missed  by  the  city  in  not  taking  advantage  of  the  play 
instincts  of  its  children,  and  directing  them  toward  better 
physical  and  mental  development. 

A  beginning,  however,  but  only  a  beginning  has  been 
made.  Two  well  supervised  playgrounds  were  managed  last 
year  by  the  Mothers'  Council,  one  on  Grand  Street,  serving 
the  children  of  the  North  end,  and  one  at  Washington  Heights, 
serving  the  children  of  the  South  end  of  the  city.  The  City 
Council  appropriated  $500  for  these  undertakings,  and  the 


LAWN  Vs  PLAYGROUND 


WILLIAM  STREET 


How  One 
Newburgh 
SchoolSaves; 
the  Grass  at 
the  "Expense 
:of  the 
Children 


|WM-K 

SCHOOL  BUILDING 


Mothers'  Council  raised  $200  for  their  maintenance.  Even 
these,  however,  have  their  shortcomings.  Both  are  situated  on 
land  owned  by  private  parties  and  are,  therefore,  likely  to  be 
only  temporarily  usable.  Moreover,  neither  of  the  playgrounds 
is  open  except  during  July  and  August  while  the  need  of  play- 
grounds during  the  spring  and  fall,  and  of  skating  rinks 
during  the  winter,  is  urgent  and  thus  unmet. 

63 


It  would  seem  to  be  fairly  obvious  that  the  play  program 
of  the  city  will  not  be  on  sound  footing,  even  as  a  beginning, 
until  these  two  playgrounds,  or  two  serving  the  same  districts, 
are  owned  by  or  otherwise  assured  for  the  city,  and  until  play 
directors  have  charge  of  them  the  year  round.  This  is  a 
conservative  proposal.  Other  cities  have  far  out-distanced 
Newburgh  in  this  particular:  Auburn,  N.  Y.  for  instance,  a 
city  of  about  the  same  size,  provides  seven  playgrounds  with 
play  directors.  In  addition  to  Newburgh's  two,  facts  already 
cited  indicate  the  need  of  another  playground  somewhere  in 
the  West  end,  to  serve  the  crowded  sections  of  upper  Wash- 
ington and  Ann  Streets  and  the  part  of  the  city  back  of 
Downing  Park.  At  present  the  driving  park  is  used  for  play 
purposes;  but  it,  too,  is  private  property,  and  may  be  lost 
to  the  children  at  any  time.  It  could  be  made  more  useful  as 
a  playground  by  the  employment  of  a  play  director  and  the 
installation  of  apparatus. 

Every  city  is  inclined  to  put  off  the  purchase  of  play 
places  because  of  other  financial  demands.  Whether  this  is 
real  economy  is  very  doubtful.  Year  by  year,  as  the  city 
grows,  property  values  increase  and  make  future  playgrounds 
more  expensive.  New  York  City  paid  almost  as  much  for  a 
.small  park  in  the  lower  East  Side  as  for  the  great  area  of 
Central  Park.  It  is  a  safe  prediction  that  sooner  or  later 
more  playgrounds  must  come  in  Newburgh.  The  question 
now  is  whether  the  city  will  settle,  the  problem  soon,  while 
land  is  comparatively  cheap,  and  have  the  advantage  of  play- 
grounds in  the  meantime,  or  whether  the  matter  will  be  put 
off  until  the  few  remaining  vacant  spaces  in  congested  sections 
are  built  upon  and  playgrounds  will  be  still  more  expensive 
and  difficult  to  secure. 

Two  years  ago  the  proposition  of  purchasing  a  large  plot 
of  ground  back  of  Downing  Park  for  a  playground  at  a  cost  of 
$20,000  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority  in  a  very  light  vote. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  organization  or  group  of  individuals 
will  see  to  it  that  Newburgh  citizens  are  so  acquainted  with  the 
usefulness  of  play  facilities  that  the  playground  proposition, 
when  again  put  before  the  voters,  will  carry. 

64 


DOWNING  PARK. 
Looking  Down  the  Hudson  Toward  Storm  King. 


WASHINGTON  HEIGHTS  PLAYGROUND. 
The  City  Needs  Permanent  Public  Playgrounds. 


In  addition  to  the  regular  playgrounds,  small  localities 
might  be  served  if  the  School  Board  should  follow  the  example 
set  in  Amsterdam,  Auburn,  Jamestown,  Mt.  Vernon,  New 
Rochelle,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Watertown, — cities  of  approxi- 
mately the  same  size  as  Newburgh, — by  opening  the  school 
yards  as  playgrounds,  installing  play  apparatus,  and  employing 
play  directors.  This  would  be  especially  valuable  in  the  case 
of  the  Washington  Street  School,  which  is  located  in  a  con- 
gested section  having  no  play  spaces.  Here  a  large  school 
yard  is  nine-tenths  given  over  to  lawn  and  gardens.  The 
esthetic  plea  will  hardly  carry  weight  in  this  case,  for  children 
line  the  streets  in  every  direction  who  might  be  stimulated 
physically  and  mentally  and  kept  out  of  mischief  by  well 
directed  play. 

ADULT  RECREATION. 

Out-of-doors  recreation  is  enjoyed  by  only  a  part  of  the 
Newburgh  people;  chiefly  by  children  of  school  age.  Older 
persons,  whose  leisure  hours  are  mainly  restricted  to  evenings, 
find  their  recreation  for  the  most  part  at  theatres,  motion 
picture  shows,  lodges,  dance  halls,  pool  rooms,  bowling  alleys, 
and  saloons,  and  in  the  summer  at  amusement  resorts.  Save 
for  summer  band  concerts  and  a  limited  number  of  concerts 
and  lectures  in  the  Broadway  School,  the  community  has  done 
but  little  toward  meeting  the  entertainment  needs  of  adults. 
This  deficiency  is  especially  notable  in  the  case  of  women  and 
older  girls.  The  lodges,  pool  rooms,  and  in  bowling  alleys, 
are  meeting  places  of  men.  The  fire  companies  and  the 
militia  also  serve  as  recreation  resources  for  men.  In  addition 
a  large  number  of  men  not  members  of  lodges,  and  in  moderate 
circumstances,  find  their  social  gathering  places  in  the  saloons, 
which  exist  in  the  astonishing  ratio  of  one  to  every  seventy- 
seven  men  of  voting  age  in  the  city.  In  providing  inexpensive 
recreation  place  for  these  men  the  saloons  have  few  competi- 
tors. The  majority  of  the  churches  are  not  in  the  field, 
although  one  of  them  does  maintain  a  mission  and  a  night 
school  for  men, — if  these  may  be  regarded  in  any  sense  as 
recreations.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  with  its 
splendid  new  building  supplies  wholesome  recreation  for  many 
young  men,  and  is  a  big  recreation  as  well  as  civic  asset  for 

65 


the  city.  But  the  majority  of  its  members  do  not  come  from 
the  large  worker  groups  of  the  city;  and  thus  in  providing 
them  with  recreation  the  Association  is  not  a  serious  competi- 
tor with  the  saloon.  In  fact,  the  moving  picture  shows  seem  to 
be  the  chief  and  greatest  competitors;  and  where  the  pictures 
are  of  good  grade  and  proper  attention  has  been  given  to 
lighting,  sanitation,  and  fire  protection,  these  enterprises 
deserve  the  moral  support  of  those  who  believe  the  saloon 
is  an  undesirable  place  for  social  gathering.  Thus  it  appears 
that  the  opportunities  for  inexpensive  and  wholesome  recrea- 
tion for  working  men  are  far  too  few,  and  that  there  is  much 


RECREATION  DESIRBOF  MEM 

Men  seek  light,  warmth  and  a  common  meeting  place 
Many  men  find  these  things  chiefly,  in  the  saloon 

WHAT  THE  COMMUNITY  CAN 
SUBSTITUTE  FOR  THE  SALOON 

Use  of  school  buildings  as  recreation  centers 
Establish  ment  of  settlement  houses  or  other  neighborhood  centers 
Use  of  parks  andopen  spaces  for  organized  recreatio  n 
Public  provision  of  music  and  other  entertainment 

I  saloon  toevery  25t  persons  in  Newburgh  vs  I  saloon  to  not  more  than  750persons, 
acconditWto State  taw  for  newly  established  saloons.emphasiTCsthe  itcrealivrandolhrr  phase 


room  for  constructive  effort.  The  field  is  almost  virgin  for 
the  churches  or  other  organizations  to  establish  social  settle- 
ments, which  are  bearing  fruits  in  many  cities.  The  band 
concert  might  be  employed  more  extensively  and  especially  is 
the  field  open  to  the  School  Board  for  the  provision  of  more 
concerts  and  lectures,  and  for  throwing  all  the  school  buildings 
open  to  all  the  people  to  be  used  out  of  school  hours  as  a 
recreation  ground  for  the  whole  family,  father,  mother  and 
children. 

66 


For  girls  and  women  there  are  few  meeting  places.  The 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  reaches  a  considerable 
number.  The  Camp  Fire  Girls  do  splendid  work  among  a 
few  and  might  advantageously  be  extended.  In  view  of  the 
insufficient  opportunity  for  home  social  life  shown  in  Miss 
Woods'  housing  report  to  exist  in  certain  parts  of  the  city, 
these  provisions,  good  in  themselves,  are  not  sufficient.  The 
court  records  show  that  a  few  young  girls,  at  least,  drop  into 
tragic  by-paths  in  Newburgh  every  year.  Lack  of  well  ordered 
recreation  places  without  doubt  enter  as  a  causal  factor  in 
many  cases.  The  wider  use  of  school  plant,  already  suggested, 
could  contribute  to  this  phase  of  the  leisure  time  problem. 

Finally,  mention  has  already  been  made  of  commercial 
recreation  places.  There  are  two  vaudeville  theatres,  two 
motion  picture  shows,  and  two  amusement  parks  which  are 
open  during  the  summer.  The  city  has  no  public  dance  halls, 
but  frequent  dances  are  held  by  different  social  organizations, 
most  of  them  in  Turn  and  Columbus  Halls  which  are  fortu- 
nately entirely  separate  from  any  place  where  liquor  is  sold. 
As  far  as  our  information,  gathered  in  a  quick  inquiry,  goes 
the  amusement  places  for  men  and  women  are  of  good  char- 
acter. The  amusement  park  which  is  to  open  under  new 
management  this  summer,  in  deciding  not  to  allow  liquor  to 
be  sold  on  the  grounds,  makes  another  step  toward  clean  and 
wholesome  recreation.  In  one  motion  picture  house  the 
emergency  exit  was  observed  to  be  obstructed  by  seats,  and 
no  exit  sign  was  in  place.  These  conditions  could  be  easily 
remedied. 

In  the  light  of  the  foregoing,  the  suggestions  are  strong 
that  Newburgh  should  give  serious  attention  to  the  following: 

1.  Permanent  public  playgrounds. 

2.  Play  use  of  school  yards. 

3.  Recreation  use  of  school  buildings  out  of  school  hours. 

4.  More  free  public  lectures  and  concerts. 

5.  Settlement  houses  in  the  more  crowded  sections. 

6.  A    final   suggestion   is   the  better   utilization   of   the 
natural  recreation  resources,  the  river,  the  hills  and  the  rugged 
back  country. 

67 


The  Charity  Situation  in  Newburgh 

MARGARET  F.  BYINGTON. 

ASSOCIATE  DIRECTOR,  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  DEPARTMENT, 
RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION. 

It  is  an  axiom  of  modern  child  welfare  programs  that  we 
can  render  our  best  service  to  individuals  only  if  we  consider 
them  as  parts  of  a  family,  and  if  we  include  as  the  most 
essential  part  of  our  service  to  the  individual  the  strengthening 
of  his  home  life,  the  removal  from  that  home  of  conditions 
which  may  have  injured  him,  and  the  building  up  of  those 
factors  which  might  help  him  to  overcome  his  weakness. 

To  increase  the  number  of  wholesome  homes,  to  remove 
or  help  to  overcome  the  obstacles  to  normal  home  life  in  indi- 
vidual families,  this  is  the  charitable  problem  of  Newburgh. 

Many  agencies  are  making  splendid  efforts  to  accomplish 
this,  the  visiting  nurses  by  curing  sickness,  the  day  nursery 
by  caring  for  children  whose  mothers  must  go  out  to  work,  the 
children's  institutions  by  providing  homes  for  children  who 
must  be  removed  from  their  own,  the  city  outdoor  relief  by 
helping  to  keep  families  together,  the  churches  by  building  up 
the  religious  life  of  families  in  danger  of  disintegration,  the 
Associated  Charities  by  its  efforts  to  strengthen  and  rehabili- 
tate dependent  families.  Each  of  these  agencies  has  a  high 
ideal  of  the  service  that  it  can  render  to  individuals  and  to  the 
community,  and  in  its  definite  sphere  is  doing  valuable  work. 

Their  weakness,  however,  is  a  tendency  to  consider  the 
individual  as  a  unit  and  not  as  part  of  a  family,  and  to  act  with- 
out due  knowledge  of  the  family  situation.  The  hospital  makes 
practically  no  effort  to  understand  the  home  conditions  under 
which  the  patient  has  been  living,  the  part  that  these  conditions 
have  played  in  causing  the  sickness,  and  how  they  can  be 
removed  before  the  patient  returns. 

The  Elks  give  a  generous  Christmas  gift  of  clothing  to 
many  children,  but  do  not  know  whether  these  gifts  really 

68 


tend  to  build  up  a  sense  of  independence  and  self-respect  on 
the  part  of  children  who  might  otherwise  suffer,  or  whether 
they  cause  these  families  to  take  the  first  step  toward  depend- 
ence, or  what  other  and  greater  needs  for  constant  and  ade- 
quate help  in  these  very  homes  are  being  left  untouched. 

The  same  comments  apply  to  the  shoe  fund  contributed 
by  the  children  in  the  schools. 

The  Day  Nursery  takes  children  so  long  as  their  mothers 
are  at  work,  but  does  not  make  any  direct  study  of  home  condi- 
tions. When  the  mother  must  work,  the  Nursery  is  a  real 
help  in  seeing  that  the  children  have  proper  care  in  her  absence, 
but  it  has  been  found  in  other  cities  that  the  Nursery  can  also 
be  a  factor  in  breaking  down  a  man's  sense  of  responsibility 
for  his  family  by  encouraging  the  wife  to  earn  when  this  is 
unnecessary,  making  thereby  a  poorer  home  for  both  man 
and  children. 

The  same  comment  may  be  made  on  both  of  the  insti- 
tutions for  children  which,  homelike  as  they  are,  cannot 
provide  the  equivalent  of  real  home  life. 

The  Home  for  the  Friendless  does  not  make  a  thorough 
enough  investigation  of  the  home  conditions  of  its  children, 
in  order  to  be  sure  that  the  institution  is  after  all  a  better 
place  for  the  children  than  their  own  homes.  The  institution 
keeps  children  only  until  they  are  ten  and  then  sometimes 
returns  them  without  supervision  to  homes  from  which  they 
had  been  taken,  although  now  they  are  older  and  more  in  need 
of  wise  oversight. 

The  State  Charities  Aid  Association  investigates  all  cases 
that  are  accepted  for  the  Children's  Home,  but  there  are  in 
the  Home  at  present  some  children,  a  casual  knowledge  of 
whose  history  indicates  them  not  to  be  proper  inmates.  One 
woman,  for  instance,  earns  $5  a  week  and  pays  the  city  $6  a 
month  board  for  her  three  children.  Her  mother  cared  for 
one  for  a  time  but  as  the  mother  was  unable  to  control  her, 
she  too  was  put  in  the  home.  It  cost  the  city  last  year  $3.89 
a  week  for  each  child  in  the  institution,  or  $11.67  f°r  tne 
three.  If  this  woman  had  $10  a  week  as  a  pension,  she  could 
take  care  of  her  children  at  home  instead  of  allowing  them  to 
be  separated  from  her.  There  are  thirty-nine  children  in  the 

69 


Home,  which  is  supposed  to  accommodate  only  twenty-seven. 
It  would  be  economical  as  well  as  kind  to  work  out  plans  by 
which  some  of  these  parents  might,  with  help  from  the  city, 
keep  their  children  at  home. 

The  relief  now  given  by  the  town  itself  is  casual  and  in- 
sufficient. The  Poor  Commissioners  give  relief  only  from 
November  ist  to  April  ist  and  rarely  more  than  $2  a  week 
to  one  family.  Last  year  $3,617  was  given  in  outdoor  relief 
to  204  families,  an  average  of  about  $17  per  family.  Contrast 
this  with  the  $11.67  a  week  or  over  $600  a  year  which  the 
city  pays  for  the  care  of  the  three  children  of  the  widow  in 
the  institution,  and  you  will  see  how  much  more  recklessly 
the  city  spends  money  for  institutional  care  than  for  keeping 
homes  together.  Undoubtedly,  many  of  these  204  families 
should  have  little  or  no  relief.  Some  of  them  have  been 
receiving  from  the  city  for  several  generations,  until  it  has 
become  almost  a  family  tradition  that  they  shall  receive  help 
from  the  city  during  the  winter  months.  This  demoralizes 
the  family  and  wastes  the  city  money.  In  some  of  these 
families  rigorous  action  should  be  taken  to  break  up  the  home 
and  save  the  little  children  from  this  tendency  to  degeneration. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Commissioners  might  well  adopt  a  more 
liberal  policy  toward  those  families  which  really  need  the 
city's  help,  including,  if  need  be,  expenditures  for  rent,  for 
board  in  a  tuberculosis  sanatorium,  or  for  whatever  else  may 
help  the  family  to  increased  health,  efficiency  and  self-respect. 
In  the  long  run  it  would  be  better  for  the  city  to  make  a 
thorough  study  of  the  history  and  home  conditions  of  each 
family  receiving  any  relief  and  base  its  decision  as  to  whether 
relief  should  be  given  or  withheld,  not  on  the  month  when 
they  apply  or  on  any  preconceived  scale  of  relief,  but  on  the 
actual  needs  of  the  family.  The  superintendent  has  his  hand* 
full  in  running  a  farm  and  caring  for  his  family  of  273  alms- 
house  inmates  and  cannot  possibly  have  time  for  this  detailed 
work. 

Aside  from  the  city  relief  only  a  small  amount  is  given  by 
any  organization  and  this  with  almost  no  knowledge  of  what 
other  agencies  are  doing,  and  without  a  plan.  Churches,  the 
Jewish  charities  and  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  give  some  relief 

70 


to  their  own  members ;  orders  like  the  Elks,  Odd  Fellows  and 
Masons  give  generously  to  those  belonging  to  their  organiza- 
tions when  they  are  in  trouble ;  the  tuberculosis  nurse  and  the 
visiting  nurse  give  relief  in  diet,  clothing,  etc.,  to  sick  people; 
the  Elks  give  $2,000  in  their  Christmas  donation;  and  the 
Associated  Charities  gives  a  total  of  about  $1,500  in  relief. 
But  all  this  taken  together  probably  does  not  meet  the  genuine 
needs  of  the  dependent  families  in  Newburgh,  and  some  of 
this  is  worse  than  wasted  in  gifts  to  families  who  do  not  need 
it. 

But  even  with  the  relatively  small  amount  thus  spent,  the 
number  of  people  affected  is  considerable.  As  an  indication, 
for  instance,  a  recent  summary  of  persons  aided  by  several 
agencies  between  December  i,  1912  and  April  i,  1913  showed 
over  fifteen  hundred.  The  details  are  shown  in  the  table : 

DEPENDENCY  IN  NEWBURGH. 
December  i,  1912  to  April  i,  1913. 


Persoi 

is  aided 

TVvtol 

Aid  given  by 

Adults 

Children 

Out  Door  Poor  Relief  

172 

165 

W7 

Indoor  Relief   

27-* 

3Q 

T.I2 

Associated  Charities  

281 

2S7 

538 

State  Charities  Aid  

114 

214 

•*28 

Total  

840 

67=; 

ICIC 

A  liberal  estimate  of  the  population,  based  upon  its 
growth  in  recent  years,  places  it  at  about  31,240.  Thus  the 
Poor  Commissioners,  the  Associated  Charities  and  the  State 
Charities  Aid  Association  in  the  four  winter  months  aided 
almost  five  per  cent  (4.8)  of  the  city's  population.  This 
shows  something  of  the  importance  of  the  problem.  So  many 
people  are  now  being  influenced  by  the  way  the  charities 
are  now  being  administered  that  it  is  worth  while  seeing  that 
these  five  per  cent,  are  well  taken  care  of. 


71 


A  careful  investigation  of  the  needs  of  each  family,  the 
securing  from  organizations  or  individuals  of  adequate  relief 
when  that  is  needed,  and  most  of  all  the  task  of  discovering 
the  fundamental  cause  of  the  poverty  of  each  family  and 
taking  steps  to  remove  that  cause  so  that  the  family  may 
again  be  self-supporting — this  is  the  task  of  the  Associated 
Charities.  The  conditions  that  I  have  outlined  are  indications 
that  this  society  has  not  fulfilled  its  function  of  organizing 
the  charitable  work  of  the  community.  It  has  done  in  some 
cases  extremely  good  work  and  has  been  of  genuine  service 
to  the  Commissioner  of  the  Poor  and  others. 

Charity  organization  societies  stand  for  two  forms  of 
activity,  one  the  rehabilitation  of  individual  families,  the 
other  the  consideration  of  those  conditions  in  the  community 
that  tend  to  keep  people  dependent,  and  the  removal  of  them. 
This  society  has  done  some  genuine  service  in  both  these  lines 
of  endeavor,  but  in  neither  is  the  service  adequate.  It  should 
be  a  vital  and  central  factor  in  the  efficient  charitable  work 
of  the  city  and  it  is,  therefore,  to  the  interest  both  of  the 
community  and  of  each  other  charitable  agency  that  it  should 
be  equipped  for  thorough  service.  At  present  its  staff  is 
inadequate  to  carry  out  this  work. 

Especially  should  it  help  to  create  joint  action  in  behalf 
of  certain  families  who  are  known  to  more  than  one  agency. 
Such  agencies  as  the  Day  Nursery,  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
Society  and  the  church  agencies  state  frankly  that  they  rarely 
inquire  of  the  Associated  Charities  whether  a  given  family 
is  already  known  to  any  other  agency.  One  widow's  plight 
was  described  to  me  by  the  workers  in  four  different  organiza- 
tions, all  of  whom  had  been  giving  her  advice  about  her 
problems  but  whose  views  as  to  the  solution  were  very 
diverse.  It  would  have  been  more  helpful  for  the  widow 
and  more  economical  of  their  time  if  they  had  talked  it  over 
together  and  on  the  basis  of  their  combined  knowledge  worked 
out  a  plan  which  they  could  jointly  have  helped  her  carry  out. 
The  Associated  Charities  has  a  Confidential  Exchange  under 
way,  but  has  not  as  yet  made  its  possibilities  fully  known  to 
the  other  agencies.  It  also  has  a  committee  for  the  discussion 
of  such  difficult  and  complex  problems  as  the  one  which  this 

72 


widow  faced.  If  this  committee  included  the  representatives 
of  those  other  agencies  which  are  serving  needy  families  in 
their  homes,  its  value  in  creating  wiser  plans  for  these  fam- 
ilies would  be  greatly  increased.  If  such  organizations  as 
the  Elks,  which  now  use  their  funds  for  temporary  relief  of 
families  of  whom  they  know  little  or  nothing,  would  allow 
this  committee  to  call  upon  them  for  funds  for  carrying  out 
some  definite  constructive  plan  for  a  family,  the  value  of  their 
help  would  be  greatly  increased.  For  instance,  would  not 
the  $2,000  given  by  the  Elks  be  more  serviceable  if  it  took 
the  form  of  pensions  for  the  entire  year  for  ten  widows  who 


A  CONFIDENTIAL  EXCHANGE 

Needed  in  New  burgh 
^o  Help  the  Helpers  Be  More  Help-full 


'Visiting  Nurse 


St  Vincent  de  Paul  Society 


Red  Cross 


Associated  Charities 


Gty  and  Town  Home 


CWches 


Hospital     Police  Department      Health  Department 


would  thus  be  enabled  to  keep  their  children  with  them  instead 
of  having  to  put  them  in  an  institution?  That  such  giving 
should  be  helpful  it  must  be  done  under  careful  supervision 
aimed  to  help  the  mother  spend  the  money  wisely  and  to  see 
that  the  children  are  being  well  brought  up.  Such  supervision 
could  be  given  by  volunteers  under  the  general  direction  of  the 
committee. 

There  are  homes,  however,  which  are  not  fit  to  be  kept 
together  and  from  which  the  children  should  be  removed  that 
they  may  have  a  chance  for  future  development.  This  work 

73 


is  nominally  the  task  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Children,  but  they  have  no  paid  agent  always  ready 
to  undertake  the  difficult  and  trying  task  of  investigating  con- 
ditions carefully  and  bringing  the  matter  before  the  court 
when  necessary.  I  was  told  of  many  cases  of  degeneracy  in 
Newburgh  where  stern  measures  were  needed,  but  where  no 
one  was  prepared  to  carry  them  out. 

At  present  no  clear  line  is  drawn  as  to  the  treatment  of 
those  families  whose  suffering  results  from  poverty  and  those 
where  there  is  moral  degeneration.  In  any  individual  case 
we  can  judge  of  the  real  effect  of  the  home  on  the  children 
only  after  a  careful  investigation,  after  securing  the  combined 
knowledge  of  their  minister,  their  teachers,  their  doctor,  or 
others  who  have  really  watched  their  development.  Children 
should  not  be  put  into  a  home  nor  should  relief  be  given  in 
the  home  until  after  such  careful  study.  When  this  has  been 
made,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  be  niggardly  with  relief  in 
order  to  prevent  the  city  or  organization  from  being  imposed 
upon ;  nor  shall  we  hesitate  so  long  about  breaking  up  the 
degenerate  family. 

I  should  like  to  speak  one  final  word  in  regard  to  condi- 
tions in  the  almshouse.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  say  that 
I  have  never  seen  an  almshouse  so  clean,  so  well  ordered,  or 
one  in  which  there  was  so  kindly  a  spirit  toward  the  aged 
and  crippled  and  infirm  gathered  there.  It  is  the  kind  of  home 
that  a  city  may  well  be  proud  of  having  provided  for  its  old 
people.  There  is  one  bad  factor  in  the  situation,  however, 
namely,  the  number  of  people  who  ought  not  to  be  there,  as 
the  superintendent  himself  knows  well,  but  for  whom  no 
other  place  is  at  present  available.  There  are  a  number  of 
advanced  cases  of  tuberculosis  which  cannot  be  cared  for  at 
the  sanatorium  but  which  may  be  sources  of  contagion  in  the 
almshouse.  There  are  a  number  of  feebleminded  women 
there  for  whom  custodial  care  should  be  provided.  One  of 
them  left  the  almshouse  twice  and  each  time  came  back  to 
bear  an  illegitimate  child.  The  superintendent  is  now  making 
her  stay  there  just  by  force  of  will,  but  he  has  no  power  to 
hold  her  if  she  chooses  to  go.  There  are  also  a  good  many 
able-bodied  and  intemperate  men  who  come  there  at  intervals, 

74 


especially  in  the  winter.  Obviously  they  need  more  strenuous 
treatment  than  the  almshouse  can  give.  But  the  jail  will  not 
make  better  men  of  them  and  there  is  as  yet  no  farm  colony 
where  they  can  be  sent  on  an  indeterminate  sentence  for  hard 
work.  The  presence  of  these  people  in  the  almshouse  is, 
therefore,  not  a  criticism  of  its  management  but  an  indication 
that  even  to  solve  its  own  local  problems,  Newburgh  citizens 
must  take  a  hand  in  urging  state  or  county  provision  for 
various  groups,  and  it  is  a  time  when  such  interest  is  needed. 
In  regard  to  the  organization  of  charity,  therefore,  may  I 
make  briefly  the  following  general  recommendations? 


J\s  shown  by  <1hree  Months'  Observation  in  Newburgh 

Prink 


Many  of  these  causes  are  removable  through  co-operative  effort 


i.  There  should  be  a  paid  probation  officer  who  should 
be  responsible  for  all  court  work.  He  should  have  charge  of 
all  probation  work  and  to  him  should  be  referred  for  investi- 
gation and  action  any  families  known  to  any  of  the  chari- 
table agencies  of  Newburgh  in  which  there  is  indication  of 
neglect.  He  could  use  the  secretaries  of  the  Associated 
Charities  or  the  State  Charities  Aid  Association  as  volunteer 
assistants  in  the  cases  of  girls  or  women. 

75 


2.  The   Commissioners   of   the   City   and   Town   Home 
should   employ  temporarily   a  trained   investigator  to   study 
the  home  conditions  of  all  families  receiving  outdoor  relief 
from  the  city.     This  would  probably  take  three  months.     It 
should  show  which  of  the  families  have  become  pauperized 
and  need  to  be  especially  stimulated  to  self-support,  which 
are  degenerate  and  should  be  broken  up  and  placed  in  insti- 
tutions and  which  should  properly  be  relieved  in  their  homes. 
Such  an  investigation  would  probably  cost  $300  but  would 
save  the  city  from  wasting  its   funds  in  certain  cases,  and 
would  be  most  surely  a  permanent  economy  through  raising 
some  families  to  self-support  and  saving  others  from  continuing 
a  tradition  of  dependence  on  the  city  even  for  temporary  help. 
After  such  an  investigation  had  made  thoroughly  clear  the 
extent  of  the  need  for  help  from  the  city,  the  Commissioners 
might  decide  to  secure  an  assistant  superintendent  to  continue 
this  work  or  might  ask  the  Associated  Charities  to  investigate 
thereafter  all  families  applying  for  relief  for  the  first  time. 

3.  There    should   be   more   effort   on   the   part   of   all 
agencies  to  study  the  conditions  which  have  made   families 
dependent  and  more  co-operation  in  removing  these  conditions 
in  individual  families  or  in  the  community. 

4.  The  staff  of  the  Associated  Charities  should  be  in- 
creased in  order  that  it  may  further  develop  the  Confidential 
Exchange,  its  committee  on  families  and  its  work  in  carrying 
out  the  rehabilitation  of  individual  families. 

5.  The   citizens   of    Newburgh   should   work    for   more 
county  or  state  organizations  to  care  for  the  feebleminded, 
inebriates,  the  tuberculous ;  as  without  such  help  even  the  local 
problems  are  insolvable. 

Our  social  problems  are  closely  interrelated.  No  one 
society  in  Newburgh  can  do  its  work  well  unless  it  works  in 
close  co-operation  with  the  other  agencies  and  community 
activities,  nor  can  Newburgh  solve  its  own  problems  without 
knowing  and  helping  in  the  working  out  of  the  state  wide 
treatment  of  sickness  and  poverty.  Such  a  recognition  of  our 
common  social  problems,  such  a  willingness  to  work  together 
in  their  solution  is  the  essence  of  sound  charitable  activity. 

76 


Industrial  Conditions  in  Newburgh 

ZENAS  L.  POTTER. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS,  RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION. 

To  those  familiar  with  methods  of  industrial  investiga- 
tions it  will  be  obvious  that  time  limitations  made  an  intensive 
local  study  of  the  whole  industrial  field  quite  beyond  the 
possibilities  of  the  present  survey.  An  adequate  study  of 
wages,  hours  of  labor,  industrial  injuries,  occupational  dis- 
eases, unemployment,  factory  sanitation,  or  the  relation 
between  employer  and  workers,  for  instance,  not  to  mention 
a  dozen  other  phases  of  industrial  conditions  would  alone 
require  the  ten  weeks  allowed  for  this  survey.  It  seemed 
best,  therefore,  to  devote  what  time  was  at  our  disposal  to 
obtaining  a  general  bird's  eye  view  of  local  conditions — at 
the  same  time  centering  attention  upon  a  few  specific  subjects — 
with  a  view  to  pointing  the  need  of  more  specialized  study 
later.  The  subjects  touched  upon  are:  (a)  wages  of  skilled 
and  unskilled  workers,  (b)  hours  of  labor,  (c)  child  labor, 
(d)  unions. 

Newburgh  may  claim  considerable  distinction  as  a  resi- 
dential city.  In  the  early  days  it  was  the  exchange  point  of 
shipping  up  the  river  and  stage  transportation  to  the  west; 
and  played  an  important  part  as  a  commercial  center.  With 
the  development  of  railway  transportation,  however,  this 
advantage  was  taken  away  and  today  the  future  of  the  city 
seems  to  be  chiefly  in  growth  as  a  manufacturing  center. 

In  this  regard  the  city  has  shown  a  fairly  rapid  and 
steady  growth.  In  1899  according  to  the  U.  S.  Census  reports, 
there  was  $4,519,000  invested  in  manufacturing  enterprises, 
in  1904  $6,508,000,  and  in  1909  $8,020,000.  In  1899  tne 
product  of  Newburgh  manufacturing  establishments  was 
valued  at  $5,358,000;  in  1904  at  $7,036,000,  in  1909  at  $9,928,- 
ooo.  Of  this  latter  figure  over  $5,000,000  was  added  in 
Newburgh.  The  number  of  factory  wage-earners  has  like- 

77 


wise  increased  from  3,074  in  1899  to  4013  in  1904,  and  4,344 
in  1909.  Of  the  number  employed  in  1909  one-third  were 
women.  It  is  estimated  that  in  addition  to  factory  workers 
there  are  approximately  2,000  workers  employed  in  the  build- 
ing and  printing  trades,  mercantile  establishments,  on  street 
cars,  etc. 

There  were,  in  1909,  one  hundred  four  manufacturing 
establishments  in  the  city.  These  range  all  the  way  from  the 
manufacture  of  patent  medicines  to  tombstones.  Among  the 
larger  factories  are  those  making  lawnmowers,  overalls,  shirt- 
waists, children's  clothing,  laces,  yarns,  silks,  plush,  felt  men's 
hats  and  caps,  stationary  engines,  boilers,  boats,  worsteds,  and 
agricultural  implements.  The  number  of  workers  per  estab- 
lishment divides  evenly  at  about  200,  half  of  the  shops  and 
plants  employing  more  than  that  number,  and  half  less.  There 
is,  however,  no  one  industry  over-shadowing  all  others,  a 
situation  which  is  usually  considered  of  industrial  and  com- 
mercial advantage  since  it  tends  to  prevent  wide  fluctuations 
in  local  prosperity  brought  on  by  unusual  general  depression 
in  any  one  industry.  Especially  is  such  a  condition  advan- 
tageous to  the  merchant  and  shop-keeper. 

So  far  as  surface  indications  go  the  future  of  the  city 
as  a  manufacturing  center  seems  promising.  Shipping  facil- 
ities are  good  and  it  is  near  the  greatest  market  in  the  country. 
Its  nearness  to  the  large  labor  supply  in  New  York  City  is 
of  undoubted  advantage.  The  absence,  however,  of  more 
recent,  and  more  detailed  information  on  these  industrial 
matters  lead  to  our  first  recommendation, — an  economic 
study  of  Newburgh.  In  addition  to  gathering  facts  along  the 
lines  just  mentioned,  such  a  study  would  seek  to  discover 
any  new  local  resources  and  business  opportunities,  which, 
if  developed,  would  add  to  the  city's  commercial,  industrial, 
and  financial  advantage.  Two  such  investigations  have  just 
been  made  in  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  one  of  them  initiated 
and  financed  by  the  City  Council. 

WAGES. 

Few  things  in  a  study  of  city  conditions  are  more  im- 
portant, both  from  the  community  and  the  individual  stand- 

78 


point,  than  the  matter  of  income ;  and  in  an  industrial  popula- 
tion it  resolves  itself  practically  to  a  question  of  wages.  Our 
three  sources  of  information  are  the  union  wage  scale  in  the 
more  important  occupations,  the  data  collected  in  connection 
with  our  housing  investigation,  and  the  Federal  report 
already  quoted.  The  figures  are  offered  not  as  proof  of 
general  wage  conditions  in  the  city,  but  as  indications  of  what 
some  of  Newburgh's  workers  are  paid.  What  several  hundred 
workers  get  is  a  matter  of  importance,  quite  regardless  of 
what  any  of  the  others  get.  At  the  same  time,  since  the 
figures  obtained  in  connection  with  the  housing  investigation 
were  collected  from  workers  in  many  industries,  they  have  a 
further  value  in  suggesting  general  wage  rates  for  unskilled 
work. 

The  skilled  trades  in  Newburgh  are  almost  entirely 
organized,  and  the  wages  generally  good.  From  a  table  show- 
ing the  weekly  earnings  in  some  of  the  more  important  skilled 
occupations,  it  was  found  that  the  lowest  union  wages  were 
$7  per  week  for  some  of  the  textile  workers,  and  $10  for 
barbers.  To  the  latter  amount  some  addition  should  probably 
be  made  for  tips.  From  these  amounts  the  weekly  rate  runs 
up  to  $27.50  for  masons  and  $35  for  a  few  musicians.  Many 
of  these  trades,  however,  do  not  give  steady  work  the  year 
round,  and  thus  the  average  weekly  income  is  reduced.  Never- 
theless it  must  be  said  that  most  of  the  skilled  trades  pay 
wages  sufficient  for  the  workers  to  support  their  families  in 
a  reasonable  degree  of  comfort. 

The  situation  with  regard  to  the  unskilled  workers 
naturally  is  much  less  favorable.  From  a  detailed  classification 
of  the  wage  figures  obtained  from  227  adult  male  workers,  a 
few  skilled,  but  most  of  them  unskilled,  it  was  found  that 
fifty  per  cent,  received  less  than  $10  a  week,  and  seventy-five 
per  cent,  less  than  $12.  When  only  the  unskilled  workers 
were  considered,  it  was  found  that  sixty-seven  per  cent,  of 
them  were  paid  less  than  $10  per  week.  Figures  showing  the 
wages  of  fifty-nine  women  workers  scattered  through  a  dozen 
trades  were  obtained ;  and  sixty-seven  per  cent,  of  these  work- 
ers received  less  than  $6  per  week.  All  but  seven  of  the 
women  received'  less 'than  $8,  the  wage  which  has  been  set 

79 


by  law  in  several  states  as  the  minimum  for  women.  Of 
course,  the  figures  deal  with  only  a  small  number  of  workers, 
but,  as  already  indicated,  they  represent  a  number  of  different 
factories,  and  men  and  women  coming  from  sections  of  the 
city  where  unskilled  and  semi-skilled  laborers  make  their 
homes.  They  give  an  inkling  of  how  very  low  the  wages  are 
of  many  men  and  women  in  the  city.  Moreover,  the  figures 
are  corroborated  by  the  Federal  report  already  quoted,  which 
shows  that  the  average  weekly  wage  of  over  4,300  Newburgh 
workers  is  $9.65. 

Studies  of  family  budgets  in  Buffalo  and  New  York  City 
in  recent  years  have  revealed  the  fact  that  it  takes  from 
$750.00  to  $850.00  a  year  to  supply  an  average  family  of  five 
with  the  bare  necessities  of  decent  living.  Even  assuming  that 
the  cost  of  living  in  Newburgh  is  one-eighth  less — an  allow- 
ance that  seems  ample — it  is  still  clear  that  many  workers 
.and  most  unskilled  laborers,  as  is  the  case  elsewhere,  get 
less  than  enough  to  support  an  average  sized  family  in  decency. 
Such  a  condition  leads  to  at  least  one  of  three  results.  Either 
the  family  is  not  supplied  with  the  necessities  of  life,  and  its 
members  become  moral  or  physical  wrecks,  sooner  or  later 
dependent  on  the  public  for  support;  or  the  mother  goes  to 
work,  thus  breaking  up  the  unity  of  home  life,  and  the 
children  as  soon  as  possible,  follow  suit,  crippling  their  oppor- 
tunities; or  else  the  family,  in  every  emergency,  falls  back 
upon  charity  for  relief,  and  the  public  in  called  upon  to  make 
up  the  discrepancy  between  living  and  less  than  living  wages. 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  wage  problem  is 
not  essentially  a  local  problem.  It  is  nation  wide,  if  not  world 
wide;  and  the  responsibility  of  local  employers  can  hardly 
extend  much  beyond  providing  the  facilities  and  adminstrative 
equipment  for  efficiency  on  the  part  of  labor, —  in  other  words, 
the  opportunities  for  increasing  their  capacity.  That,  however, 
is  no  small  responsibility.  Furthermore,  it  is  highly  important 
that  the  average  citizen,  in  order  to  do  his  part  in  a  state  or 
national  handling  of  the  problem,  should  become  much  more 
intelligent  regarding  the  human  consequences  of  low  wages. 
For  that  reason  we  should  recommend  a  more  intensive  study 
of  wages,  together  with  hours,  and  general  work  conditions 
discussed  in  this  report. 

80 


HOURS  OF  LABOR. 

Hours  of  labor  in  Newburgh  are,  on  the  average,  good. 
The  hours  of  women  in  factories  are  fixed  by  the  labor  law  at 
54  per  week.  One  large  Newburgh  factory  has  worked  women 
sixty  hours  during  the  past  winter.  Another  violates  a 
section  of  the  labor  law  by  allowing  but  thirty  minutes,  in- 
stead of  an  hour,  for  the  noon  meal.  In  some  cases  women's 
unions,  in  agreements  with  employers,  have  reduced  the  hours 
below  fifty-four.  The  state  law  limiting  in  mercantile  estab- 
lishments the  hours  of  female  workers  between  sixteen  and 
twenty-one  years  to  ten  per  day  and  sixty  per  week  seems  to 
be  pretty  generally  complied  with,  not,  however,  because  of  the 
activity  of  the  Health  Department,  the  enforcing  authority. 
In  all  of  the  larger  stores  of  this  city  and  in  some  of  the 
smaller  ones  employees  are  given  a  half-holiday  during  July 
and  August.  The  agreement  between  the  Clerks'  Union  and 
the  Merchants'  Association  under  which  this  is  guaranteed 
has  still  two  years  to  run.  Some  of  the  factories,  also,  allow 
employees  a  half-holiday  each  week  during  part  of  the  year. 
Newburgh  may  congratulate  herself  upon  these  attainments, 
which  have  not  only  industrial  but  human  significance — attain- 
ments for  which  the  struggle  must  yet  be  made  in  many  cities. 

Hours  of  men,  both  skilled  and  unskilled,  are  not  regu- 
lated by  law  except  on  public  work.  The  local  unions  have, 
however,  in  many  cases  succeeded  in  reducing  the  hours  for 
their  members,  and  in  many  cases  the  restriction  of  hours  of 
women  in  factories  has  acted  to  restrict  the  hours  of  male 
workers  also.  From  figures  showing  the  hours  of  labor  fixed 
by  the  unions  in  sixteen  of  the  more  important  occupations,  it 
was  found  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  barbers,  who  work 
seventy-five  hours,  and  the  bakers,  who  work  sixty,  all  men 
work  fifty-six  hours  or  less  per  week.  While  there  is  still 
room  for  improvement,  the  unions  and  employers  may  be 
commended  for  these  conditions.  The  hours  of  unskilled  male 
workers  are  entirely  unregulated  either  by  law  or  agreement, 
but  in  general  they  are  set  at  ten  hours  per  day  and  sixty  per 
week. 

81 


CHILD  LABOR. 

Under  the  labor  law  no  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  may  be  employed  or  permitted  to  work  in  any  factory 
before  8  a.  m.,  and  after  5  p.  m.,  for  more  than  eight  hours  a 
day,  or  more  than  six  days  a  week.  Further,  no  child  may 
be  employed  in  any  mercantile  establishment  before  8  a.  m., 
after  7  p.  m.,  for  more  than  nine  hours  a  day,  or  for  more 
than  fifty-hours,  or  six  days  a  week.  In  a  limited  investigation 
by  Mr.  Edward  F.  Brown,  chief  special  agent  of  the  National 
Child  Labor  Committee,  it  was  found  that  these  laws  are 
frequently  disregarded  in  Newburgh.  This  statement  is  based 
upon  the  hours  worked  by  fifteen  children,  or  about  a  quarter 
of  those  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age  at  work 
in  the  city.  Nine  of  these  were  employed  in  factories,  and 
six  of  these  worked  eight  hours  a  day,  as  permitted  by  the 
law ;  while  one  worked  nine  hours  and  two  ten  hours,  in 
violation  of  the  law.  Of  the  six  children  at  a  kind  of  work 
covered  by  the  mercantile  law,  three  worked,  legally,  nine 
hours  a  day  or  less;  two  worked  nine  and  a  half,  and  one 
eleven  hours  in  violation  of  the  law.  The  latter,  a  boy,  is 
employed  by  a  milk  company  and  begins  work  before  4  a.  m. 
every  morning. 

Had  time  permitted  a  thorough  investigation  of  mer- 
cantile establishments,  it  is  probable  that  it  would  have 
shown  that  not  only  do  children  work  illegal  hours,  but  that 
children  under  the  legal  age  of  fourteen  years  are  frequently 
employed.  This  statement  is  based  upon  answers  to  inquiries 
made  in  the  public  schools  as  to  the  work  of  children.  For 
instance,  ninety-eight  children  were  found  who  worked  in 
mercantile  establishments  after  school  hours  and  on  Saturdays. 
Out  of  this  number  one  was  in  the  first  grade,  three  were  in 
the  second  grade,  ten  in  the  fourth  grade  and  eighteen  in  the 
fifth  grade.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  the  majority  of  the 
children  under  the  sixth  grade  and  some  of  those  above  it  are 
under  fourteen  years,  the  age  below  which  children  may  not 
legally  work  in  mercantile  establishments. 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find  the  mercantile  law  violated 
in  Newburgh,  for  the  officials  of  the  Health  Department,  who 
are  charged  with  its  enforcement,  were  unaware  that  its  en- 

82 


A  SECTION  OF  THE  WATER  FRONT. 
Showing    Some    of    Newburgh's    Industrial    Establishments. 


WATER   STREET 
A  Mercantile  Center  of  the  City. 


forcement  was  their  duty.  Investigation  in  other  third-class 
cities  has  shown  a  very  similar  condition.  To  make  the  enforce- 
ment of  this  law  more  effective,  Newburgh  should  unite  with 
other  third-class  cities  in  asking  the  legislature  to  transfer 
the  duty  of  its  enforcement  from  local  Health  Departments  to 
the  State  Department  of  Labor.  In  the  meantime  the  health 
department  should  enforce  the  law  as  best  it  can  with  its 
limited  force  and  employers  should  familiarize  themselves 
with  its  provisions. 

To  be  legally  employed  children  between  fourteen  and 
sixteen  must  secure  working  certificates,  to  obtain  which  they 
must  present  a  school  certificate,  showing  that  they  have 
attained  certain  educational  proficiency,  and  they  must  produce 
documentary  evidence  to  show  that  they  are  fourteen  years 
of  age  or  over.  School  certificates  are  issued  by  the  educa- 
tional authorities  and,  as  pointed  out  in  the  school  report, 
(Page  16),  these  authorities  have  interpreted  the  law's 
provisions  regarding  their  issuance  much  more  laxly  than  they 
have  been  interpreted  in  many  other  cities  of  the  State.  The 
working  certificates  themselves  are  issued  by  the  Health  De- 
partment; and  there,  too,  methods  have  been  grossly  lax.  In 
some  cases  children  have  received  certificates  upon  the  pre- 
sentation of  documentary  evidence  which,  instead  of  showing 
that  they  were  entitled  to  them,  shows  that  they  were  pre- 
cisely not  so  entitled,  and  in  many  cases  upon  insufficient 
proof  of  age  or  educational  proficiency. 

Space  will  not  permit  us  to  go  into  the  details.  A  full 
report  will  be  furnished  to  the  Health  Department.  One 
illustration  serves  to  reveal  the  gross  carelessness  in  this 
respect.  The  law  provides  that  a  child  must  have  attended 
school  130  days  previous  to  the  time  of  application  for  a  cer- 
tificate. One  boy,  however,  was  given  a  certificate  upon  the 
presentation  of  the  following  note  as  proof  of  required 
schooling. 

"To  the  Health  Officer, 

The  bearer  of  this  note  was  a  pupil  of  our  school  and 
attended  regularly  till  he  was  taken  ill.  His  mother  says  that 
the  Doctor  who  attended  him  does  not  advise  his  being  in 

S3 


school.    He  has  not  been  in  school  the  regular  number  of  days 
since  he  was  thirteen. 

Respectfully, 


The  note  specifically  says  that  the  child  has  not  attended 
school  the  required  number  of  days.  Moreover,  from  the  note 
the  authorities  have  no  reason  for  assuming  that  the  child 
has  attained  the  education  demanded  in  the  law.  Still  further, 
the  Health  Department  must  sign  a  statement  that  each  child 
securing  a  certificate  is  physically  able  to  go  to  work.  That 
a  child  forced  to  stay  out  of  school  because  physically  unfit,  is 
physically  fit  to  work,  may  well  be  questioned;  yet  a  working 
certificate  was  issued  in  this  case. 

We  would  recommend  that  the  Health  Department  instruct 
those  who  issue  certificates  to  familiarize  themselves  with 
the  exact  provisions  of  the  law  and  observe  them  in  every 
detail. 

A  new  law  has  recently  gone  into  effect  which  regulates 
newspaper  selling  by  prohibiting  work  by  boys  under  twelve 
years  of  age  or  by  boys  under  sixteen  years  after  eight  p.  m. 
Inquiry  in  the  schools  revealed  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 
newsboys  in  the  city.  Out  of  this  number  two  were  in  the 
first  grade,  eight  in  the  second,  seven  in  the  third  and  fourteen 
in  the  fourth.  Judging  from  the  way  ages  and  grades  usually 
run,  the  majority  of  those  are  probably  under  twelve  years 
of  age;  and  they  would  thus  be  working  illegally.  The  pro- 
visions as  to  selling  after  eight  p.  m.  will  not  affect  Newburgh 
for  papers  are  seldom  sold  after  six  o'clock  at  night.  The 
police  and  attendance  officer  are  charged  with  the  enforcement 
of  this  law  but  nothing  has  been  done  to  date  to  secure  com- 
pliance with  its  provisions. 

Mr.  Brown's  investigations  of  the  occupations  of  children 
between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age  shows  that  the 
opportunities  for  children  to  gain  industrial  proficiency  and 
advance  under  present  industrial  organization  are  few.  The 
tasks  at  which  they  were  employed  were  mainly  mechanical, 
requiring  little  skill ;  and  most  employers  stated  that  they  had 
no  time  to  devote  to  training  children  to  proficiency.  Some 
frankly  said  that  there  were  no  opportunities  in  their  factories 

84 


for  children  to  rise  above  the  grade  of  unskilled  or  semi- 
skilled labor.  These  facts  emphasize  the  need  for  such  indus- 
trial training  in  the  schools  as  will  permit  children  to  gain 
fundamental  training  for  industrial  life  before  they  enter 
upon  it.  From  both  this  investigation  and  that  made  in  the 
schools  we  feel  that  a  study  of  industrial  processes  and  oppor- 
tunities, perhaps  initiated  by  the  School  Board  in  co-operation 
with  the  manufacturers  and  labor  organizations  of  the  city, 
would  be  of  great  value  in  showing  how  such  education  could 
best  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  city  and  the  child. 

Several  employers  stated  that  they  employed  no  children 
between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age,  some  because  they 
did  not  believe  in  child  labor,  some  because  of  the  special 
restrictions  put  upon  the  hours  of  labor  of  such  children. 

INDUSTRIAL  HAZARDS. 

Newburgh  has  a  number  of  industries  which  are  recog- 
nized as  generally  dangerous  to  health  and  limb,  unless  care- 
fully safeguarded.  This  is  particularly  true  in  the  making  of 
hats.  The  danger  comes  from  the  inhalation  of  particles  of 
hair  by  the  workers  before  the  carroting  process,  and  the 
chance  of  mercury  poisoning  after  the  carroting.  In  the  cut- 
ting room  there  is  some  danger  of  mercurialism,  and  the  blow- 
ing room  contains  dusty  air  from  mixing  and  feeding.  In 
the  finishing  process  silica  dust  from  operating  the  pouncing 
machine,  humidity,  and  the  use  of  carbon  monoxide  and  carbon 
dioxide  raise  further  questions  of  health  hazards.  In  addition 
to  mercurialism,  the  fight  against  tuberculosis  tendencies  is 
greatly  handicapped  by  work  in  places  where  dust  is  uncon- 
trolled. The  woolen  and  other  textile  manufactures,  because 
of  the  likelihood  of  working  in  dust-ridden  air,  also  carry  with 
them  danger  of  respiratory  troubles  unless  precautions  are 
taken  and  observed.  Moreover,  reports  have  come  to  us  of 
cases  of  lead  poisoning  due  to  certain  processes  in  the  manu- 
facture of  lace.  Much  of  this  is  preventable. 

On  the  side  of  accidents,  Newburgh  contains  a  consid- 
erable number  of  factories  which,  throughout  the  country,  are 
regarded  as  fairly  hazardous.  Seven  hundred  and  sixty-seven 

85 


persons  were  killed  in  New  York  State  factories  last  year,  and 
60,554  were  injured  more  or  less  seriously.  The  statistics  of 
the  Labor  Department  show  that  many  of  these  were  due  to 
unguarded  machinery,  and  might  have  been  prevented  by  a 
little  precaution.  Some  of  these  accidents  occurred  in  New- 
burgh.  Since  every  accident  is  proof  of  how  accidents  can 
and  do  happen,  the  large  proportion  of  those  in  the  State  which 
occurred  in  industries  represented  in  Newburgh,  shows  the 
possibility  of  still  other  accidents  in  local  plants  where  ma- 
chinery is  unguarded. 

In  a  number  of  industries  throughout  the  country,  em- 
ployers have  found  it  economically  justifiable  to  employ  safety 
engineers  as  regular  members  of  their  working  forces,  their 
functions  being  to  study  accident  and  disease  hazards  and 
invent  preventive  devices.  We  recommend  for  the  favorable 
consideration  of  local  employers,  or  groups  of  employers  such 
a  study  of  the  whole  problem  as  might  be  made  the  basis  for 
constructive  action  either  by  individual  firms  or  groups  of 
firms. 

UNIONS. 

The  skilled  workers  of  this  city  are  quite  thoroughly 
unionized,  reliable  estimates  placing  the  union  members  be- 
tween 4,000  and  4,500,  about  one-fifth  of  whom  are  women. 
These  same  estimates  indicate  that  from  eighty  to  ninety  per 
cent,  of  the  skilled  workers  are  union  members.  In  addition 
to  the  Central  Labor  Union,  with  which  most  of  the  locals 
are  affiliated,  there  are  unions  among  the  street  railway  em- 
ployees, lace  operators,  musicians,  bartenders,  block  printers, 
brewery  workers,  masons,  electric  workers,  painters  and  dec- 
orators, steamboat  employees,  cigar  makers,  cutters,  gas  and 
electric  employees,  hat  finishers,  hod  carriers,  sheet  metal 
workers,  stage  employees,  machinists,  truckmen,  pressmen, 
moulders,  steam  engineers,  bakers,  barbers,  printers,  plumbers, 
carpenters,  clerks,  garment  makers,  textile  workers  and  sta- 
tionary engineers.  The  main  membership  need  lies  in  the 
direction  of  more  unskilled  workers.  These  needs  are  not 

86 


peculiar  to  Newburgh  but  constitute  a  comparatively  general 
problem  of  the  unions. 

The  chief  medium  through  which  Newburgh  workers 
may  show  a  united  front  and  thus  voice  their  needs  forcefully, 
is  the  union.  The  soundness  of  the  general  principles  of 
unionism  among  workers  is  not  much  questioned  at  present. 
The  questions  which  are  likely  to  arise  are  more  often  related 
to  the  methods  of  working  out  these  principles.  In  so  far 
as  the  methods  have  to  do  with  violence,  Newburgh's  unions 
may  take  very  high  standing.  Their  past  records  carry  little 
in  the  nature  of  "direct  action,"  the  unions  seeming  to  rely 
chiefly  upon  educational  methods  and  wide  local  understand- 
ing for  results.  Facts  already  presented  show  that  these 
methods  have  been  fruitful  both  in  the  improvement  of  hours 
and  the  increase  of  pay.  Moreover,  the  unions  have  been 
a  very  serviceable  instrument,  both  from  the  workers'  and  the 
employers'  standpoint,  for  negotiating  collective  and  long 
time  labor  bargains.  This  kind  of  service  needs  and  deserves 
intelligent  support,  not  only  by  workers  and  employers,  but  by 
the  citizenship  generally. 

SUMMARY. 

Finally,  to  sum  up,  this  study  has  tended  to  point  the  need 
of: 

I.  A  general  study  of  economic  and  commercial  condi- 
tions and  resources  in  the  city; 

II.  A  general  study  of  the  human  side  of  industrial  con- 
ditions,  wages,   hours,   unemployment,   etc.,   with  a  view   to 
knowing  and  improving  conditions  such  as  will  make  New- 
burgh a  more  desirable  place  for  workers  to  live  in ; 

III.  Better  enforcement  of  child  labor  laws ; 

IV.  Transfer  of  the  duty  of  enforcing  the  law  in  mer- 
cantile establishments   from  local  health  departments  to  the 
State  Department  of  Labor ; 

V.  Greater  care  in  the  methods  of  issuing  working  cer- 
tificates to  children. 

VI.  A  study  of  industrial  opportunities  and  processes 
to  enable  the  schools  to  supply  the  kind  of  industrial  education 
which  will  best  meet  the  needs  of  the  city  and  the  child ; 

87 


VII.  An  investigation  of  work  hazards  with  a  view  to 
preventing  accident  and  disease ; 

VIII.  Measures  for  acquainting  citizens  generally  with 
the  methods  and  advantages  of  well  conducted  labor  unions. 


88 


Municipal  Administration 

D.  O.  DECKER. 

Fifty  years  ago — and  even  later — the  chief  solution 
offered  the  citizen  who  desired  improvement  in  municipal 
conditions  came  from  the  party  out  of  power,  in  the  familiar 
slogan,  "Turn  the  rascals  out".  This  answer,  however,  was 
not  altogether  convincing.  Baffled,  but  not  discouraged,  the 
taxpayer  began  to  inquire  why  it  costs  more  to  run  a  city  than 
a  private  enterprise  of  like  size.  The  answer  to  his  inquiry 
has  been  much  more  reassuring  both  to  the  taxpayer  and  to 
the  believer  in  ultimate  municipal  efficiency.  It  is  merely 
that  sound  business  methods  have  not  been  generally  applied 
to  municipal  administration.  Moreover,  an  examination  of 
the  nature  of  municipal  business  leads  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  are  but  few,  if  any,  phases  of  it  that  differ  enough  from 
private  business  to  make  the  application  of  tried  methods 
either  unprofitable  or  inadvisable.  The  administration  of 
public  business  in  Newburgh  should  be  studied  and  changed 
with  this  constantly  in  mind. 

The  purpose  of  this  report  has  been  to  make  clear  the 
community  needs  of  Newburgh  and  present  such  constructive 
recommendations  as  to  methods  and  organization  as  will 
increase  economy  and  efficiency.  If  Newburgh  is  satisfied 
with  the  standards  of  the  average  city,  there  is  little  necessity 
for  this  report,  for  much  was  found  to  commend  in  the  various 
departments  and  much  excellent  work  is  being  done.  This 
investigation  was  made  upon  the  assumption  that  Newburgh 
will  be  satisfied  with  only  the  best. 

Each  year  increases  the  demands  which  must  be  met  by 
municipal  taxation.  To  make  possible  increased  expenditures, 
the  necessity  for  which  is  measured  in  terms  of  the  safety  and 
welfare  of  the  community,  the  city  can  increase  its  tax  rate 
to  only  a  limited  extent.  Whether  Newburgh  will  decrease 
her  death  rate  and  the  occurrence  of  preventable  disease,  will 

89 


depend  to  some  degree  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  city  can 
increase  her  economy  and  efficiency  in  municipal  administra- 
tion. 

THE  BUDGET. 

Certain  financial  information  is  necessary  in  order  that 
officials  may  properly  administer,  and  that  the  public  may 
intelligently  criticise  and  commend.  The  nature  of  this  in- 
formation differs  only  slightly  from  that  necessary  in  direct- 
ing a  private  business.  The  first  essential  is  an  intelligent 
and  constructive  program  for  the  year.  Such  a  program  should 
be  expressed  in  a  budget ;  and  the  budget,  if  properly  arranged, 
lays  a  foundation  for  proper  bookkeeping,  as  well  as  con- 
structive and  efficient  administration.  The  present  budget 
is  not  made  until  August,  which  leaves  the  city  entirely  with- 
out a  program  for  the  critical  part  of  the  year.  This  delay 
also  discourages  city  planning, — encourages  over-drawing 
appropriations, — and  increases  the  tax  rate  without  corre- 
spondingly increasing  the  results  accomplished.  By  charter 
amendment  completion  of  the  budget  should  be  required  not 
later  than  March  ist,  and  it  might  be  advisable  to  fix  the 
budget  before  the  fiscal  year  is  begun.  The  items  should  be 
classified  under  proper  groupings,  and  each  appropriation 
itemized.  That  is,  in  place  of  "$15,000  for  machines,  horses, 
paving  blocks,  etc.",  a  schedule  should  be  prepared  showing 
approximately  how  many  horses  will  be  bought  and  the  sum 
appropriated  for  their  purchase,  what  "machines"  are  needed 
and  the  amount  allowed  for  them,  and  so  on  with  each  item. 
This  automatically  insures  a  study  of  the  work  to  be  per- 
formed and  the  adoption  of  an  intelligent  program  of  expendi- 
ture; it  prevents  "log  rolling"  later  in  the  year;  makes  possi- 
ble comparisons  with  results  and  expenditures  of  prior  years; 
and  insures  a  certain  amount  of  cost  accounting. 

PREPARING  THE  BUDGET. 

In  preparing  a  budget  substantially  this  procedure  should 
be  followed.  Itemized  requests  should  be  submitted  by  the 
departments  to  the  board  of  estimate;  these  requests  should 
be  classified  and  analyzed  by  the  board  and  then  made  public 
for  discussion  at  public  hearings  before  the  budget  is  finally 

90 


adopted.  The  following  suggestions  on  procedure  are  also 
in  order.  The  Mayor  should  have  power  to  veto  any  item 
of  appropriation.  Balances  at  the  close  of  the  year  should 
revert  to  the  general  fund  for  the  reduction  of  taxation.  It 
should  be  illegal  to  exceed  an  appropriation.  (This  is  now 
the  law  but  it  is  not  enforced.)  It  should  be  possible  for  the 
council  to  increase  an  appropriation  found  to  be  inadequate,  by 
a  transfer  of  funds  from  another  appropriation. 

ACCOUNTING  AND  REPORTING. 

No  idea  of  the  city's  financial  condition  can  be  gathered 
from  any  report  published.  This  is  pertinent  and  sweeping 
criticism  which  must  be  made  of  the  present  method  of  report- 
ing and  accounting.  It  will  be  more  satisfactory  to  suggest 
what  accounts  should  be  kept  and  in  what  form  reports 
should  be  made,  than  to  criticise  the  present  system  of  accounts 
and  reports,  which,  while  apparently  accurate  and  possibly 
all  that  is  required  by  the  charter,  falls  far  short  of  picturing 
the  condition  of  city  finance  or  guiding  the  public  in  its  study 
of  administrative  conditions. 

Every  business  whether  public  or  private  should  show 
separately  the  operation  of  the  current  year.  That  is,  revenues 
and  taxes  due  during  the  year,  should  be  compared  with  the 
expenditures  incurred  for  the  year.  This  may  be  called  an 
"Operation  and  Maintenance  Account."  These  accounts 
should  be  kept  by  the  city  clerk,  and  to  give  him  the  necessary 
information  he  should  receive  monthly  reports  from  all 
departments  showing  revenues  collected  or  accrued,  and  dis- 
bursements and  liabilities  incurred.  While  cash  payments 
are  now  accurately  recorded,  no  record  is  kept  of  liabilities 
incurred,  without  which  the  cost  of  the  year's  administration 
can  never  be  known. 

Entirely  separate  from  this  class  of  accounts  is  another 
known  as  "Capital"  or  "Permanent  Improvement"  accounts. 
These  show  moneys  collected  or  due  from  benefit  assessments, 
sale  of  bonds,  etc.,  as  contrasted  with  expenses  for  permanent 
improvements,  retirement  of  bonds,  etc. 

Another  balance  sheet  should  show  the  status  of  sinking 
funds,  and  the  investments  made  with  them.  Although  the 

91 


Newburgh  charter  provides  for  a  sinking  fund  commission,  it 
apparently  has  never  exercised  its  duties  and  this  fund  has  no 
investments,  although  there  is  a  book  balance  to  its  credit  of 
$22,338.47.  Other  balance  sheets  suggested  would  be  "Trust 
Funds",  as  pension  funds,  etc. 

A  GENERAL  LEDGER. 

While  a  fund  ledger  is  now  kept  showing  the  disburse- 
ments charged  against  particular  appropriations,  there  is  no 
general  ledger.  A  general  ledger  should  be  opened  showing 
the  current  balances  which  make  up  the  balance  sheets  sug- 
gested. For  example,  when  the  tax  warrant  is  delivered  to 
the  collector,  "Taxes  Receivable — General  Account"  should 
be  debited.  On  the  other  hand,  as  taxes  are  collected  and 
paid  to  the  treasurer,  "Taxes  Receivable"  should  be  credited 
and  "Cash"  debited.  From  this  general  ledger  a  balance  sheet 
can  be  instantly  drawn  showing  the  condition  of  all  city  funds. 
A  similar  system  of  accounts  is  fully  explained  in  "Theory  of 
Auditing  and  Accounting"  by  R.  H.  Montgomery,  and  in 
"The  Handbook  of  Municipal  Accounting"  by  the  Metz  Fund, 
261  Broadway,  New  York  City. 

THE  FUND  LEDGER. 

The  present  fund  ledger  should  be  revised  so  as  to  show 
outstanding  liabilities,  as  well  as  cash  payments.  Liabilities 
plus  payments,  when  deducted  from  the  total  appropriation, 
will  give  the  unencumbered  balance  of  the  appropriation ;  and 
it  is  desirable  to  make  monthly  reports  showing  the  condition 
of  appropriations.  A  simple  method  of  preventing  the  exceed- 
ing of  appropriations  is  to  direct  that  no  order  or  purchase 
shall  be  valid  until  the  clerk  certifies  that  there  are  unencum- 
bered funds  sufficient  to  meet  it. 

COST  ACCOUNTING. 

Some  attempt  at  cost  accounting  has  been  made  in  the 
street  department,  and  the  few  accounts  kept  have  already 
proven  their  value.  Keeping  adequate  records  of  cost  will 
indicate  whether  it  is  better  to  do  certain  work  by  contract  or 
through  the  city  department;  whether  certain  laborers  are 

92 


efficient  or  inefficient;  what  methods  of  pavement  repair  and 
road  improvement  give  the  best  results  for  the  money  ex- 
pended, etc.  No  modern  private  business  is  without  a  system 
of  cost  accounts. 

CLERK'S  OFFICE. 

The  system  of  records  and  indices  in  the  clerk's  office 
is  excellent  and  compares  favorably  with  that  in  use  elsewhere. 
More  clerical  help  will  soon  be  necessary  in  this  office,  particu- 
larly if  the  accounting  system  is  revised.  The  provisions  for 
making  the  office  fire  proof  seem  inadequate. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NRTAXPAYER 

With  a  Municipal  Budget  and  Without 


How  One  City  Now 
SUPPOSES 

the  Money  is  Speint 


How  a  <£\ty 
KNOWS 

where  the  Morxej/  Goes 


TREASURER. 

The  treasurer  is  made  by  the  charter  the  depository  of 
city  funds.  It  is  more  desirable,  however,  to  make  him  a  fiscal 
officer,  and  permit  the  council  to  designate  banks  of  deposit. 
Under  the  present  system  his  bond  is,  in  theory,  inadequate. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  treasurer  should  keep  as  many 
detailed  accounts  as  are  now  kept.  He  is  merely  a  cash 
depository  and  is  fesponsible  only  for  totals.  It  would  be 

93 


sufficient  to  have  him  open  an  account  for  current  revenues 
and  expenditures,  a  permanent  improvement  account,  a  sink- 
ing fund  account,  trust  fund  accounts,  etc.,  and  have  the 
classification  of  the  payments  under  budget  appropriations  a 
matter  of  bookkeeping  shown  only  in  the  clerk's  office  and  in 
the  clerk's  report.  It  would  be  advisable  that  the  funds  of 
each  of  the  particular  accounts  should  be  deposited  separately 
and  in  a  separate  bank  account,  although  this  could  not  be 
required  under  the  present  charter.  This  would  effectually 
prevent  a  confusion  of  funds,  such  as  now  exists  in  the  case 
of  the  sinking  fund,  which  is  supposed  to  have  a  cash  balance, 
but  apparently  only  has  a  book  balance.  The  treasurer's  report, 
while  required  by  the  charter,  is  in  effect  a  re-statement  of 
the  clerk's  accounts  and  adds  nothing  to  the  information  of 
the  public.  A  statement  by  the  treasurer  of  the  balances  on 
hand,  total  receipts  and  disbursements,  and  an  audit  of  his 
books  by  a  committee  of  the  council,  would  be  sufficient  to 
protect  the  public  and  the  treasurer. 

TAX  COLLECTIONS. 

The  city  has  now  three  tax  collections,  state  and  county 
taxes,  water  rents,  and  city  taxes.  By  legislative  change  all 
three  taxes  should  be  made  collectable  by  one  tax  roll  and 
warrant,  part  of  the  total  taxes  being  payable  in  the  spring 
and  the  remainder  six  months  later.  No  collection  fee  should 
be  charged  on  any  tax,  as  the  office  of  collector  is  salaried,  and 
such  fees  are  in  any  event  paid  to  the  city.  "Back  taxes"  and 
tax  sales  should  be  handled  by  the  collector  under  the  advice 
of  the  Corporation  Counsel,  rather  than  by  the  Corporation 
Counsel,  as  is  now  required  by  the  charter.  This  would  permit 
all  inquiries  regarding  taxes  to  be  answered  by  one  office,  and 
is  in  other  respects  advisable. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  collector's  books  may  be  greatly 
simplified  by  opening  a  card  index  of  all  uncollected  taxes. 
The  original  roll  would  still  contain  the  original  entries  of 
payments  and  would  in  any  event  constitute  the  official  records 
in  case  of  dispute.  A  most  desirable  feature  in  tax  collection 
is  a  pre-billing  of  taxes.  That  is,  all  receipts  are  prepared  on 
official  forms  in  advance.  These  receipts  total  the  amount  of 

94 


the  warrant  turned  over  for  collection,  and  the  collector's 
accounts  are  then  audited  by  crediting  him  with  unused 
receipts  and  collections  paid  to  the  treasurer,  which  together 
must  always  total  the  amount  of  the  warrant.  This  system 
will  be  an  actual  saving  in  clerical  work,  and  is  an  absolute 
check  on  returning  any  taxes  as  unpaid,  which  have  already 
been  paid.  This  system  is  suggested  because  it  has  proved  so 
successful  in  other  places ;  and  the  integrity  of  the  present 
collector  is  too  well  established  to  make  it  necessary  to  explain 
that  the  suggestion  is  impersonal. 

TAX  SALES. 

The  present  charter  procedure  for  tax  sales  might  be 
improved  upon.  If  extensive  changes  are  made  in  the  pro- 
cedure, the  system  of  the  sale  of  a  tax  lien,  a  system  now  used 
in  New  York  City,  should  be  carefully  considered. 

ROAD  IMPROVEMENT. 

Newburgh  is  contemplating  considerable  paving  and  road 
construction  in  the  near  future.  It  would  be  unfortunate  to 
begin  this  without  a  definite  constructive  program  which  would 
outline  for  a  period  of  five  to  ten  years  what  work  will  be 
undertaken,  the  order  of  the  construction  and  the  methods  of 
financing.  Such  a  program  should  be  mapped  out  and  adopted 
by  both  public  officials  and  citizen  organizations.  With  such 
public  support  and  acceptance,  the  proposition  can  be  studied 
from  a  much  broader  standpoint  and  adherence  to  the  plan 
adopted  may  be  more  definitely  assured.  Other  suggestions 
related  to  this  are  made  below  under  the  head  of  "Bonds". 
The  plan  should  include  care  of  unimproved  dirt  roads ;  for 
both  dirt  and  macadam  roads  can  be  placed  in  a  most  satis- 
factory condition  if  an  annual  appropriation  for  their  main- 
tenance is  set  aside  and  properly  administered.  Since  most 
of  the  population  reside  along  either  macadam  or  unimproved 
roads,  these  roads  should  receive  more  consideration  than 
usually  has  been  given  them.  Without  expending  one  cent  for 
gravel  or  stone,  much  can  be  accomplished  by  the  continuous 
use  of  a  roller  in  the  spring.  One  rolling  at  that  time  is  equal 
to  two  later.  It  is  not  always  economy  to  neglect  a  road  with 

95 


the  idea  of  making  more  extensive  repairs  another  year. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  macadam,  which  becomes  valueless 
if  not  repaired  immediately;  and  re-surfacing  it  after  the 
top  surface  is  worn  through  in  places  is  usually  impracticable. 

STREET  OPENINGS. 

At  present  private  individuals  are  permitted  to  make 
street  openings  for  gas  connections,  etc.  Although  a  bond  is 
filed,  the  whole  principle  is  wrong,  and  an  enforcement  of  the 
bond  is  unsatisfactory.  Street  openings  should  always  be 
made  and  filled  by  the  street  department,  and  by  cost  account- 
ing the  actual  expense  can  and  should  be  charged  to  the 
proper  person.  This  fixes  responsibility,  and  is  a  method  that 
every  city  will  come  to  in  a  few  years. 

The  charter  salary  provided  for  the  Superintendent  of 
Streets  is  inadequate  for  retaining  the  type  of  man  necessary 
for  this  position. 

CITY  ENGINEER. 

Newburgh  should  investigate  whether  it  would  not  be 
more  desirable  to  put  the  city  engineer  on  the  basis  of  a  paid 
officer.  This  would  need  a  careful  study,  and  should  take  into 
consideration  the  amount  of  engineering  services  which  will 
be  required  in  the  near  future,  the  office  force  which  will  have 
to  be  provided,  and  whether  reductions  in  salary  and  office 
force  can  and  will  be  made  in  slack  periods,  etc. 

SUPPLIES. 

No  really  satisfactory  plan  for  efficient  purchasing  can 
^e  reached  until  all  supplies,  including  those  of  the  water 
department  and  the  board  of  education,  are  purchased  through 
one  permanent  bureau,  officer,  board  or  committee.  This  can 
be  accomplished  without  charter  amendment  by  agreement  of 
representatives  from  each  principal  department,  on  such  board 
or  committee,  although  a  charter  amendment  would  be  more 
satisfactory  as  a  permanent  arrangement. 

Certain  supplies,  such  as  coal,  stationery,  tools  and  im- 
plements should  be  bought  on  annual  contracts.  In  some  cases 

96 


the  contract  should  provide  for  delivery  upon  request,  in 
other  cases  the  supplies  should  be  purchased  for  the  year  and 
stored.  When  needed,  they  are  given  out  by  the  store-keeper 
upon  an  order,  which  passes  through  the  city  clerk,  who 
charges  the  proper  account  and  credits  the  storekeeper's  ac- 
count. Coal  should  be  bought  on  specifications  based  on  its 
heating  qualities,  standard  of  heat  calories,  etc.,  being  specified. 
If  the  coal  on  analysis  is  below  standard,  an  appropriate  deduc- 
tion from  the  price  can  be  made.  The  purchasing  board,  by 
familiarizing  itself  with  prices,  and  by  open  competition  (not 


IS  THE  HIGH  TAX  CRY  JUSTIFIED? 

£Tb  ta  1  <Tax  Pe  r  .G'ap  it  a  ,  19 1 1 


Kingston 


claincstown 

Newburgh 

Watertown, 

flubiirii 

Bmsteidam 


*n.4-s 
ns.es 

F  13.69 

U3.55 


necessarily  advertising  on  all  purchases)  can  obtain  wholesale, 
and  often  jobbers',  prices.  Where  it  is  practicable,  uniform 
specifications  should  be  adopted.  These  can  readily  be  obtained 
from  cities  where  they  have  been  successfully  used,  or  from 
the  purchasing  departments  of  business  corporations.  Where 
the  quantity  needed  is  not  sufficient  to  warrant  a  formal  con- 
tract, two  or  three  informal  bids  can  be  obtained  before  pur- 
chase, thus  following  the  "Open  Market  Order"  plan. 

Until  a  central  method  of  purchasing  is  put  into  operation, 
the  adoption  by  each  of  the  various  deaprtments  of  similar 

97 


methods  would  be  a  good  step.  The  purchase  of  coal,  forage 
and  stationery  should  be  placed  at  once  on  a  competitive  basis. 
In  contrast  with  the  methods  suggested,  the  street  department 
now  buys  through  a  committee,  the  personel  of  which  is 
changed  every  three  months.  Obviously  such  an  arrangement 
is  not  made  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  taxpayers. 

The  city  is  large  enough  to  have  a  shop  under  the  charge 
of  a  practical  blacksmith,  which  would  take  care  of  all  horse- 
shoeing and  most  of  the  repair  work  of  all  the  departments.  A 
simple  system  of  cost  accounting  would  properly  distribute  the 
charges. 

An  examination  of  the  charges  for  similar  supplies  and 
work  furnished  the  various  departments  discloses  the  fact  that 
the  charges  are  not  uniform.  Some,  at  least,  of  these  charges 
are  too  high. 

Purchases  are  often  made  without  any  written  authority, 
and  possibly  no  authority  at  all,  except  as  the  purchase  is  later 
O.  K.'d.  No  record  of  the  liability  incurred  by  a  purchase  is 
made  until  a  bill,  which  may  or  may  not  be  submitted  promptly, 
is  presented.  Consequently  the  actual  cost  of  the  year's  admin- 
istration is  never  known.  Nothing  more  definite  than  a  signa- 
ture and  O.  K.  is  on  the  bill  to  indicate  that  goods  were  as 
ordered,  were  received  in  good  condition,  and  that  the  charge 
is  reasonable. 

A  consideration  of  the  facts  required  by  a  city  for  purposes 
of  record,  and  for  its  own  protection,  will  indicate  the  necessary 
procedure  in  purchasing  supplies.  It  is  generally  agreed  that 
the  first  requisite  is  some  authorization  of  the  purchase.  This 
necessitates  an  order  to  purchase  signed  by  the  committee  in 
charge  or  the  head  of  the  department.  As  a  basis  for  such 
authorization,  some  one  should  go  on  record  as  to  the  need  for 
such  supplies.  The  next  step  is  a  certification  by  the  city  clerk 
that  there  are  unencumbered  funds  provided  by  the  budget 
sufficient  to  meet  the  cost.  Otherwise  there  is  nothing  to  pre- 
vent exceeding  the  appropriation,  which  is  not  only  very  bad 
policy,  but  is  forbidden  by  the  charter.  Next,  the  vendor  is 
entitled  to  some  documentary  evidence  that  he  has  authority  to 
furnish  the  supplies.  A  most  important  matter  then  arises — 
were  the  supplies  furnished,  were  they  in  good  condition,  and 

98 


were  they  worth  the  amount  charged  ?  Delivery  and  condition 
must  be  certified  to  by  some  one  who  actually  saw  them  after 
delivery  and  knows  about  them.  It  is  also  advisable  to  have 
the  vendor  certify,  (not  swear)  to  the  correctness  of  his  bill. 
The  system  of  purchasing  or  auditing  solely  upon  an  O.  K., 
absolutely  fails  to  center  responsibility  upon  anyone,  for  this 
O.  K.  can  mean  much  or  little.  For  instance,  a  city  official 
of  considerable  prominence  in  a  nearby  county  O.  K.'d  a  very 
excessive  claim.  When  asked  about  it  he  said,  "What  business 
have  I  to  question  the  price  a  man  puts  on  his  work"?  His 
O.  K.  evidently  did  not  include  the  amount  of  the  bill. 

AUDITING  CLAIMS. 

When  supplies  are  furnished  and  services  contracted  for 
under  the  procedure  suggested,  the  matter  of  audit  is  based  on 
documentary  evidence  and  becomes  of  less  importance  than 
it  now  is.  However,  it  would  be  a  much  better  plan  to  have 
the  particular  committee  under  whose  charge  the  expense 
is  incurred  first  audit  the  bill,  then  have  it  audited  by  the 
auditing  committee.  This  could  and  should  be  required. 

BONDS. 

According  to  a  statement  prepared  by  the  city  at  the  first 
of  this  fiscal  year,  additional  bonds  of  the  city  may  only  be 
issued  to  the  amount  of  $226,878.19.  This  condition,  while  it 
does  not  affect  the  credit  of  the  city,  calls  for  consideration, 
as  it  may  later  cause  embarrassment  and  prevent  the  issuance 
of  bonds  necessary  for  the  city's  proper  development.  As  the 
limit  of  bonded  indebtedness  depends  upon  the  assessed  valua- 
tion of  real  property,  the  situation  may  be  remedied  to  some 
extent  by  increasing  the  assessed  valuation. 

Violations  of  two  cardinal  principles  of  municipal  finance 
are  responsible  for  a  portion  of  the  present  bonded  indebted- 
ness. The  first  principle  is  that  bonds  should  not  be  issued  for 
a  term  longer  than  the  life  of  the  improvement  whose  con- 
struction they  fund.  An  illustration  of  the  violation  of  this, 
is  the  bond  issue  to  macadamize  Broadway.  The  city  is  still 
paying  for  this  macadam,  although  no  macadam  now  remains. 
In  other  words,  the  'city  is  now  paying  for  "a  dead  horse". 

99 


Such  a  plan  places  on  the  new  generation  the  debts  of  the 
former. 

The  other  principle  relates  to  refunding  bonds.  Pro- 
vision should  be  made  with  each  bond  issue  for  its  retirement 
from  current  taxes  or  assessments,  as  it.  or  its  various  install- 
ments fall  due.  Bonds  have  been  issued  here  with  no  pro- 
vision for  their  payment,  making  it  necessary  to  refund  them 
at  maturity  by  the  issuance  of  new  bonds.  This  might  be 
excused  in  the  water  department,  if  an  audit  should  disclose 
the  fact  that  the  city  is  retiring  water  bonds  rapidly  enough 
on  its  present  basis.  But  it  is  more  probable  that  such  an  audit 
would  indicate  that  the  bonds  should  be  retired  more  rapidly 
than  at  present,  and  that  it  would  but  emphasize  the  evil 
results  of  this  practice  of  refunding  bonds.  Another  example 
is  the  $27,000  bond  issue  recently  sold  to  pay  installments  of 
various  bonds,  part  of  which  should  have  been  paid  from  the 
sinking  fund  applicable  thereto.  Apparently  they  were  not 
paid  from  this  fund  because  the  sinking  fund  had  no  cash 
available,  although  it  had  a  book  asset  of  $22,338.47.  This 
bond  issue  was  explained  on  the  ground  that  it  was  desirable 
to  use  the  money  in  the  sinking  fund  for  road  repairs.  This, 
stated  in  another  way,  means  that  the  city  is  now  issuing  bonds 
to  pay  for  current  expenses.  Plausible  reasons  may  be  given 
for  such  a  practice,  but  the  principle  is  so  dangerous  that  it 
should  be  absolutely  avoided.  If  permitted,  it  will  probably 
result  in  a  deficit  sooner  or  later,  particularly  where  no  ade- 
quate statement  of  current  operation  and  capital  account  is 
annually  prepared. 

Serial  bonds  are  recommended  as  being  the  safest  and 
best.  The  first  installment  should  fall  due  as  soon  as  the 
benefits  of  the  improvement  are  received.  This  rule  has  not 
been  observed  in  Newburgh. 

WATER  DEPARTMENT. 

Two  important  suggestions  are  made  for  this  department. 
The  water  department  should  be  thoroughly  audited  and 
examined  by  an  accountant  to  ascertain  whether  the  water 
receipts  are  adequate  to  meet  current  expenses  plus  the  proper 
charges  for  depreciation  of  the  plant  and  for  the  retirement 

100 


of  bonds.  The  furnishing  of  water  is  a  business  proposition, 
and  should  be  operated  the  same  as  a  private  enterprise.  It 
should  be  so  managed  that  the  cash  balance,  which  would 
correspond  to  profits  or  dividends  in  private  business,  is  applied 
by  the  city  toward  acquiring  the  water  works  free  from  float- 
ing and  bonded  debt.  A  report  of  the  nature  indicated  above 
would  show  whether  the  receipts  from  water  rents  are  ade- 
quate. 

Putting  in  city  meters  in  every  house  or  place  where  water 
is  used  is  the  second  important  recommendation.    This  should 


NEWBURGH  CIT!  FINANCES 

The  people  should  know  how  public  money  is  spent 
It.  is  their  money. 

Better  Planning  and  Accounting  Needed 

A  Budget  should  be  published  earlier  and  publicly  discussed. 
Expenditures  exceeding  appropriations  shouldbe  prevented. 
A  Tax,  assessment  map  should  be  prepared 
Taxesandwter  rents  should  be  levied  by  one  annual  tax  rolland  warrant. 
A  new  system  of  cfyaaountin&and'reporting  is  recommended. 
A  central  purchasing  bureau  is  recommended. 


be  preceded  by  the  audit  so  that  the  proper  rates  may  be 
established.  These  rates  should  preferably  be  made  on  a 
sliding  scale,  similar  to  the  unit  scale  now  in  use  in  parts  of 
the  city  where  water  is  sold  on  a  meter  basis ;  but  as  the  present 
rates  are  mere  guess  work,  they  should  be  disregarded  in  fixing 
the  new  rates.  The  city  does  not  maintain  its  water  system 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  those  using  water,  but  maintains  it  in 
the  interest  of  all  taxpayers  and  residents.  Water  should  be 
sold  at  a  proper  rate.  If  it  is  sold  below  cost,  it  merely  grants 
a  subsidy  to  those  w'ho  use  the  water.  Had  the  city  been  on 

101 


a  meter  basis,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  recent  enlargement  of  the 
reservoir  would  have  been  necessary. 

THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 

The  recommendation  as  to  accounting  and  purchasing  for 
the  city  at  large  also  apply  to  this  department.  Current  opera- 
tion and  maintenance  is  mingled  with  capital  account;  for,  on 
page  15  of  the  annual  report,  disbursements  for  building 
school  houses  are  totaled  with  disbursements  for  repairs  (pre- 
sumbably  current  repairs,  as  they  are  no  where  else  mentioned). 
The  school  budget  should  in  some  cases  indicate  more  specific 
items,  although  its  arrangement  in  general  is  to  be  commended. 
It  appears  however,  that  the  budget  is  not  always  followed. 
A  similar  system  of  accounts  as  suggested  for  the  city  at  large 
will  remedy  this  and  increase  the  value  of  the  budget. 

The  purchase  of  supplies  has  been  conducted  with  con- 
siderable care  and  economy.  The  records  on  which  audit  is 
made  are  meager,  being  only  the  O.  K.  in  most,  if  not  all, 
instances.  The  duplicate  order  system  explained  before  should 
be  installed.  It  would  increase  economy  in  the  purchases,  if 
more  supplies  were  bought  on  one  annual  contract  and  held  in 
storage  until  needed.  Also,  the  interest  of  the  taxpayers  is  not 
best  served  when  the  attempt  is  made  to  pass  around  to  all 
local  dealers  orders  for  purchases. 

It  is  recommended  that  a  study  of  the  heat  value  of  coal 
used,  the  efficiency  of  the  heating  plants  and  particularly  the 
efficiency  of  the  janitor  service  at  the  boilers,  would  be  of 
value.  There  is  a  best  way  to  use  coal  in  firing.  An  expert 
on  boiler  service,  at  a  nominal  compensation,  could  instruct  the 
janitors  and  direct  them  in  cleaning  and  overhauling  their 
plants,  with  good  results  in  economy  and  service.  The  school 
laboratories  are  equipped  to  test  ashes  in  order  to  find  the  per 
cent,  of  coal  not  consumed.  Tungsten  lights  should  be  used  in 
all  cases.  The  item  of  $6,000  for  fuel  and  light,  while  not 
excessive,  presents  opportunities  for  economy  and  efficiency. 

While  the  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  should  keep 
all  the  detailed  accounts  and  records  of  that  board,  the  city 
clerk  should  have  such  records  furnished  him  as  would  permit 
a  statement  of  the  finances  of  that  board  to  be  included  in  the 
general  statement  of  city  finance  issued  from  his  office. 

102 


SOURCES  OF  REVENUE. 

While  it  was  impossible  adequately  to  investigate  the 
possibilities  of  new  sources  of  revenue,  a  few  suggestions  may 
be  in  order.  The  matter  of  water  front  has  already  been  taken 
up  by  the  city,  but  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  upon  its 
possibilities  as  a  future  source  of  revenue.  The  licensing  of 
billboards  and  signs  has  also  received  attention.  The  best 
solution  would  be  to  license  them  on  a  revenue  basis.  This 
would  not  only  insure  some  income  to  the  city,  but  would 
effectually  prevent  the  cheaper  and  more  undesirable  class. 
While  charter  amendment  is  probably  necessary,  less  constitu- 
tional difficulty  will  be  encountered  if  the  problem  is  ap- 
proached from  this  standpoint. 

The  title  to  Broadway  between  the  building  lines  is 
vested  in  the  city.  For  this  reason  it  is  proper  to  rent  vault 
privileges  on  a  commercial  basis,  so  that  the  revenues  and 
benefits  may  be  divided  among  the  citizens,  rather  than  solely 
among  adjoining  property  owners. 

In  addition  the  following  sources  of  revenue  are  suggested 
as  being  worthy  of  further  study. 

(a)  The  sale  of  unnecessary  and  old  material  by  the  city. 

(b)  Increased  license  fees  in  general. 

(c)  Sale  of  privileges   for  stands,   etc.,   in  the  public 

streets  and  parks. 

(d)  Interest  on  city  deposits,  particularly  the  proceeds 

of  bond  sales. 

(e)  The  possibility  of  maintaining  a  public  market,  and 

leasing  privileges. 

(f)  The  lease  of  real  estate  owned  by  the  city  but  not 

required  for  immediate  use. 

(g)  Increasing  assessed  valuations  on  unimproved  land 

within  the  city, 
(h)     Use  of  short  term    prisoners    for    road    building. 

(Legislation  necessary.) 

As  a  general  principle  special  revenues  of  whatever  nature 
should  be  paid  directly  into  the  general  fund  for  reduction  of 
taxation,  and  adequate  and  definite  appropriations  can  be  made 

103 


in  the  budget  to  take  the  place  of  any  receipts  from  special 
revenues  which  have  heretofore  passed  directly  to  particular 
purposes  or  departments. 

THE  CHARTER. 

Charter  revision  in  Newburgh  is  essential,  and  is  likely 
to  continue  to  be  essential;  because  it  is  doubtful  if  any  model 
charter  has  ever  been  drawn  for  any  city,  and  if  one  could  be 
drawn  for  Newburgh  to  meet  the  community  needs  of  today, 
it  would  undoubtedly  fail  equally  to  meet  the  community  needs 
of  tomorrow. 

Charter  revision,  if  given  undue  prominence,  will  prove 
a  stumbling  block  and  nullify  rather  than  assist  efficient  admin- 
istration. The  greater  part  of  the  suggestions  made  in  this 
report  can  be  carried  out  without  charter  change ;  and  to  post- 
pone improvements  until  the  state  law,  charter  or  ordinances 
are  amended,  would  be  most  unwise.  When  changes  are 
made  in  the  present  form  of  organization  the  suggestion  is 
here  made  of  the  advisability  of  having  (i)  a  smaller  council, 
(2)  a  system  of  primaries  and  elections  eliminating  state  and 
county  politics,  (3)  more  concentralization  of  responsibility. 
A  proper  accounting  and  reporting  system  will  insure  a  public 
better  informed  as  to  what  is  being  done ;  and  make  it  easier  to 
compare  results  and  the  amounts  of  moneys  expended.  This 
in  itself  will  provide  a  system  of  checks  and  balances  making 
possible  a  centralization  of  power  which  would  otherwise  be 
excessive. 

ORDINANCES  AND  CODES. 

The  ordinances  of  the  city  have  been  compiled,  but  should 
also  be  revised  and  codified.  Unenforceable  ordinances  should 
be  omitted,  because  they  detract  from  the  moral  effect  of 
proper  and  enforceable  ordinances.  Greater  publicity  should 
be  given  not  only  to  ordinances,  but  to  all  matters  relating  to 
public  administration.  The  building  code  is  not  up-to-date, 
and  the  revision  which  is  contemplated  should  be  at  once  under- 
taken. A  housing  code  should  be  enacted. 


THE  NEWS  CO..  NEWBURGH.  N.  Y 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD 


PRINTED  IN  US    A. 


mil 

A    001347124    8 


